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Europe Seen Through a 
BOY'S Eyes. 



BY 



TELLO J. d'APEEY. 



WITH TWENTY-SIX FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. 




New York : X^J^ WASH^^J^ . / 
Published by the Author. /^^ q ^ S^Jf 



K 



Copyright, 1893, 
By Tello J. d'Apery. 



THE LIBEAltY 

QW COMGREflS 

WASHINGTON! 






JAS F. KNOX'S SONiiT^^::^^^:^^^-^- 



Street, New York. 



THIS LITTLE BOOK IS DEDICATED 

TO 

MY FATHER AND MY MOTHER. 

TELLO J. d 'apery. 



PREFACE. 

I would not write a preface if I was sure 
that my book was good enough to go forth 
without some excuse. My youth must plead 
for me where I have not done all I ought. 
My trip was a hurried one, and all I could 
do was to try and show you how one portion 
of Europe looked, seen through a boy's eyes. 
I now send forth this, my first book, hoping 
that it may escape the notice of the critics, 
and fall into the hands of my most indulgent 

friends. 

The Author, 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Chapter I. Across the Ocean. Gib- 
raltar ♦ . . . 9 

Chapter II. Tangiers . . . ... 21 

Chapter III. Grenada 41 

Chapter TV. Seville 57 

Chapter V. Madrid 66 

Chapter YI. A Bull- Fight in Mad- 
rid 74 

Chapter YII. Burgos to the Riviera 84 

Chapter VIII. Genoa 96 

Chapter IX. Pisa 104 

Chapter X. Florence 113 

Chapter XI. Naples 131 

Chapter XII. Vesuvius 156 

Chapter XIII. Naples and Capri . 172 

Chapter XI Y. Rome 185 







\ 



CHAPTER I. 

ACROSS THE OCEAN. GIBRALTAR. 

SIT was the fourth of March and about the 
^ hour when President Cleveland was 
being inaugurated that the Kaiser With elm 
was just outside Sandy Hook, rising and 
falling on the high waves. The lamp in the 
lighthouse showed fitfully, as the big steam- 
er rose or fell. It was blowing a terrible 
gale, and snow and sleet were driving before 
it, and ice covered the decks. It was almost 
impossible to see anything, or at least I found 
it so, as I stood on the deck in a quiet corner 
struggling with three emotions till then un- 
known to me. I was leaving my father and 
mother and making my first flight out into 



10 EUEOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 

the great world alone. I was leaving my 
country, and my little paper which has been 
so much to me during the past four years, 
and I was beginning to feel that peculiar 
sensation that is the advance guard of sea- 
sickness. Altogether my emotions over- 
powered me so that with tears or sleet or 
perhaps both, my eyes were blinded and I 
sought the seclusion that the cabin granted, 
like the captain of the good ship Pinafore. 

After that retirement there followed a 
short period of misery that I will not men- 
tion. The first thing I recollect clearly was 
the antics of my steamer trunk. That was 
small, but packed as full as it could hold and 
it was heavy. Down in one corner were 
three pounds of Huyler's best, all done up 
in pretty boxes, and a number of other little 
things that boys like. These were packed by 
the loving hands of a dear friend who died 
while I was away , to my great grief and sorrow. 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 11 

That trunk had sharp corners bound with 
hon, and when the ship would roll one way 
it would slide downward to bang against the 
partition, and then rebound and slide back 
again and slam up against the side of the 
ship with a vicious thud, and then slip back 
to the partition only to return and hit the 
side with another corner, just as if it was 
determined to dii?- a hole throuoh before 
morning. Every time it flew backward or 
forward it seemed to get new momentum and 
I lay there and feebly counted the times it 
hit and wondered exactly how long it would 
take that sharpest corner backed by about a 
hundred pounds weight to batter a hole in 
the ship, and I remember that I felt unable 
to put out a hand to stop it or to find voice 
to ask some one else to, and I was quite sure 
that I should have been incapable of trying 
to save myself even if it did make a hole big 
enough to let the whole Atlantic in. 



12 EUEOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

Then I fell asleep and when I awoke the 
steamer w^as going as steady as a clock, and 
there was no» more storm, and I was soon on 
deck. Words cannot express what I felt 
when I was sea -sick, every time I would 
think of that candy, and I firmly decided 
that I would write a strong editorial that 
should make all boys as willing as I to give 
up the pernicious habit of eating candy, yet 
four days later we all thought candy never 
tasted so good and the editorial did not get 
written. - 

Life on shipboard, I suppose, is the same 
to all who go across the great sea. We 
played shuffleboard, checkers and chess, 
we listened to the band, promenaded, and 
read books, and wondered when we should 
reach Gribraltar. We counted the runs and 
bothered the captain and everyone else with 
questions, changed our American loose 
money for foreign coins, and I decided to buy 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY S EYES. 18 

c\ dog and a mandolin. Any further plans 
were cut short by seeing a ship in distress. 
This ship did not signal for aid, and was 
on her way, probably, to the Azores, but 
she looked as if she had been beaten nearly 
to pieces on sharp rocks, and her masts and 
sails were also in a sad condition. 

We had several passengers on board who 
knew^ all the conundrums that have ever 
been written or made, and as we had no pos- 
sible manner of escape we had to stay there 
and listen, and pretend Ave enjoyed it ; but, 
I think that was one of the reasons why we 
were so delighted when Ave saAv the great 
Rock of Gibraltar rising from the horizon. 
We passed the Azores and thought them 
A'ery picturesque and pleasant, and A^ery 
fertile. The steamer passed right through 
them and Ave could see numbers of Avind- 
7nills, and the people could be seen Avalk- 
ing about. Fayal is, I think, the prettiest 



14 EUEOPE BEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

of the group. All of them look like ex- 
tinct volcanos. 

After passing the Azores we soon sighted 
the shores of Portugal, and saw the most of 
that coast in outline, sometimes distant and 
sometimes near, and we reached Gibraltar 
just about dark. We had expected to pass 
by Gibraltar and leave the steamer at Gen- 
oa, and go from there to Florence, taking all 
the other places we visited, in line, as we 
came back, but as cholera had been reported 
at Marseilles it was decided to change our 
itinerary and "do" Spain first, as Spain was 
about to declare a quarantine against Mar- 
seilles. 

The great rock grew bigger and higher 
and looked grimmer and more towering as 
w^e approached it, and it seemed fairly above 
us as the steamer came to anchor. It looked 
like a giant guarding the Gate of Hercules, 
and keeping perpetual watch for foes. 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 15 

When we approached, our baggage was 
brought on deck, and we said a few good-bys 
to those who remained on board, and thanked 
the officers for the care and kindness we had 
received and as soon as the steamer anchored 
we tumbled and scrambled into the little 
boat that landed us at the foot of the Rock 
of Gibraltar. 

When we neared the landing we turned 
and looked at the Kaiser Wilhelm as she lay 
rocking idly on the tide, for it had been a 
second home for us so long that we all felt 
a pang of regret, but, as soon as we found 
that we were on solid land again new things 
and thoughts claimed our attention. I 
stamped hard to feel the ground, and remem- 
bered Sancho Panza's words: *' Oh, 'happy 
cabbage planters of Seville. They have one 
foot in their cabbage garden and the other 
not far away." Solid ground is more to my 
taste than sailing over water where the bot- 



16 EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 

torn is from three to six miles deep, and 
nothing to catch on t(\ 

The instant we landed we were surround- 
ed by hotel guides and custom house officers, 
all talking at once, and in a language strange 
to us, until we were nearly distracted. Fi- 
nally the guides drew back a little, and after 
the custom house officers satisfied themselves 
that w^e had no liquor or cigars, we were 
permitted to pass through the gate. 

We went slowly up to the hotel, leaving 
our trunks until morning. Our first night 
on shore was restless and uneasy, and I was 
glad when daylight came. I was out at 
half- past five watching the English soldiers 
drill. The whole place seemed to be under 
arms, and English soldiers were every- 
where, filling the streets and crowding the 
Spaniards, Jews, and Moors to the walls. 
Look where you will, an English redcoat 
always formed the foreground of the picture. 




3 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOy's EYES. 17 

I strolled around delighted with the clean 
fresh look of everything, and presently came 
to where a Moor was sitting outside of his 
little store, enjoying the first rays of the 
rising sun, and he answered me in fairly 
good English when I addressed him, and he 
seemed delighted to talk with an American 
as I certainly was to have a chance to talk 
with a real live Moor on his own ground. 
He finally directed me to where I wished 
to go and we parted sadly, I because he had 
no Moorish money, and he because I did 
not buy anything else he had. 

Afterward I reached the dock, where I 
made a search for our trunks which I found 
with difiiculty, as there w^ere two or three 
Spaniards perched on each, and evidently 
they had been there all night, hoping thus 
to secure a claim for a franc or so for bring- 
ing them up to the hotel. As soon as I 
came near they began to quarrel as to who 



18 EUKOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOy'S EYES. 

had the best right to cany them, and as the 
dispute bid fair to last all day, I beckoned 
to a fat fellow, who fairly walked all over 
the others, to reach me, and then I strug- 
oied for ten minutes to make him under- 
stand the name of the hotel, and finally had 
to go with him myself. 

After breakfast we took a cab and went 
for a drive to that beautiful place they call 
Europa Point. On each side tropical trees 
and plants lined the way, giving it a doubly 
pleasant look to persons just arrived from a 
land covered with ice and snow. We left 
the carriage and went up higher to get a 
better view. Below us was the beautiful 
smooth Mediterranean, behind, the green 
valleys and mountains of Spain, and beyond 
lay the Atlantic blue and broad, and to the 
south we could see the hilly coast of Africa 
like a lovely picture. I cannot find words 
to tell how beautiful it all seemed, and the 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 1 1) 

clear blue sky inid fresh air lent it all a 
new charm. 

On returning- we visited the o'alleries 
that have been mined out of the solid rock, 
and looked at the wonderful works that had 
made of this mountain the strongest fortress 
in the world. One soldier told us that they 
had ammunition and food enoufi^h to last for 
seven years of sieo-e. 

People are not allowed to go up to the 
signal station, but we went up and into the 
part that is honey -combed with passages 
and holes in which monstrous ^uns are 
mounted. We walked out on a little ledge 
from which we got a fine view of the town 
and the pretty bay. We could see the 
soldiers marching on the shore, like little 
specks, and we were often startled by flocks 
of birds that flew around. As we slowly 
descended we caught glimpses of the shores 
of Africa with its old Moorish towers set on 



20 EUROPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

the hills. Every turn in the road gave a new 
outline to the hills across the straits, and I 
think it was then that we all decided to go 
to Tangiers that looked so enticing across 
the water. 

I do not know how high Gibraltar is nor 
how many cubic feet of stone there are in 
it. I know that it is a grand sight seen 
from its base, and a most beautiful one seen 
from its summit. 















•^i". 


















GATE OF TANGIERS. 



CHAPTER II. 



TANGIEKS. 



^^^HE next day was one of great excitement. 
^^ We left early m the morning for Tan- 
gier s in a small steamer. The weather which 
had been fair and mild took a sudden turn 
and became stormy, and the passage though 
short was very rough, but nothing happened 
until the steamer came to anchor, and we 
had to get into the small boat to be rowed 
to the land by the Moors. The steamer an- 
chored not far from two fair sized steamers 
which formed the Sultan's entire navy. 

We should have reached the shore all 
right if the rowers had not left off work to 
argue about how much they were to charge 



22 EUKOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

for our trunks. When they stopped rowing 
the boat swung around broadside to the 
waves, and a huge one struck the boat and 
dashed over it. There was a gentleman and 
his wife in the boat with our party, and both 
ladies were drenched. Charles and I sprang 
for the shelter of our trunks and escaped, 
but all the rest were wet through, and I was 
afraid that Aunt Mary would get a chill, but 
the Moors grasped their oars and turned in 
the heavy sea, and at last brought us to land, 
with no more deluges. 

We landed and walked briskly up to the 
gate, where a custom house officer sat smok- 
ing, and he nodded gravely as we passed him 
but did not appear to feel equal to speaking. 
We were told that we must wait until our 
guides got donkeys for us to ride, and we 
stepped into a sort of vestibule to wait, and 
to shelter the ladies from the wind but we 
were quickly ordered out again by signs, and 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOl's EYES. 2'6 

we found that^ we had entered a mosque 
where no Christian was ever allowed. 

We bore the waiting as best we could 
until the donkeys came, but they got there 
at last, and we managed to get the ladies 
mounted with some difficulty, on account of 
their wet clothes, which hung heavy and 
from which still trickled little streams of 
water. 

Tangiers is picturesque as you see it from 
a distance, and it is beautiful then. It is 
picturesque after you get in it, but it is not 
very enticing. We rode along the shore 
passing long caravans going and coming from 
the desert, and we entered the gate and rode 
through the narrow streets as rapidly as was 
possible on account of Aunt Mary and the 
other lady. The hills are steep and the 
streets run right over them up and down 
and side wise, and the poor beasts of bur- 
den toil up and down to the constant music 



24 EUEOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY'S EYES. 

of sticks rattled over their bones, and the cry 
of Aura, which means to go on. I saw no 
carriages or other vehicles in Tangiers ex- 
cept a cart for garbage. 

As soon as we reached the hotel we took 
the wet dresses to the kitchen to dry and 
the ladies went to bed to get warm and 
rest after their rough experience. I went to 
the kitchen and coaxed the fat cook to give 
me some peculiar looking but very good 
cakes. Then Charles and I left the ladies 
to rest and went out for a donkey ride. 

We went up to the Market Place and 
found that we had just happened to hit 
upon a market day, and the open space was 
covered with people, perhaps a thousand of 
them — men, women and children, of all 
•shades of color and none white. Some of 
them were Arabs and some Moors, and the 
others I do not know the names of, and they 
were dressed in the loose, flowing robes and 




CO 

O 
< 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY S EYES. 'Jo 

burnouses, and some wore turbans on their 
heads, and some wore the Turkish fez. The 
women were all covered with veils, some 
white and some dirty. I cannot tell what a 
strange look all this had. There was a tel- 
egraph pole here and there, and some of the 
houses had a European look, but all the rest 
seemed to be thousands of years old and mil- 
lions of years distant from our civilization. 
The dress of the people was so different from 
ours, their looks and manners, too, that it 
seemed as though it could not be in the 
same world with us and only a few hours 
distant from the triumphs of civilization. 

Donkeys were everywhere and there were 
a good many horses, too, there, some of them 
pretty miserable and some of them truly 
splendid creatures. But a horse with a New 
York dude "rising to the trot "in Central 
Park, and a Bedouin Arab on a horse are two 
things. It is a pleasure to watch an Arab 



2Q EUKOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 

ride. You cannot see him move his hand or 
foot, and yet the horse will turn, run, gallop, 
walk or stop, so that it is wonderful. There 
is no jouncing or riding up and down, the 
horse and the rider have one head, one body 
and one mind that controls all. It is fine. 

I think Market Day is once a week, and 
the natives come in from outlying hamlets 
and each brings what he has — a little lime, 
a little charcoal, or some trifling thing, and 
some had some of the dirtiest looking candy 
you ever saw. I used to think hat some 
that the Italians in New York offer for sale 
was bad enough but this is far beyond theirs. 

Charles and I succeeded in oettino- don- 
keys, and as we rode through this crowd of 
people we were assailed on all sides for 
money, by some of the most wretched look- 
ing people I ever saw, nearly all of them 
blind. I was told afterwards that nearly 
all the blind men were thieves who had been 



EUROPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 21 

deprived of their sight as a punishment ; 
though what they coukl find to steal in this 
forsaken country I cannot imagine. 

We rode along until we came to a place 
where there was a snake charmer perform- 
ing his tricks, and we halted to watch him. 
There was a ring of people gathered around 
him and as we approached I saw that he was 
cut in many places. Our guide said that 
was to keep the poison of the bites from 
entering into his system. 

He opened a goatskin bag and let out his 
snakes. They were not the sleepy kind you 
see in the circus but lively and vicious, but 
,he chanted and beat on his drum until they 
seemed to become tame. I cannot tell all 
the horrible things he did with the snakes, 
but at last after letting one bite his tongue, 
he threw the snake down and grabbed a 
handful of grass and began blowing for all 
he was worth and soon little jets of smoke 



28 EUEOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

began to come, and then a little flame came 
out of his mouth. I do not see how he did 
it, but it was wonderful. He did several 
other curious tricks, but we did not stay 
until the end. 

Near by Avas another ring of people and 
in the centre there was a story teller, and he 
told his stories whatever they were with a 
good deal of spirit and acted them all out. 
The people listened attentively, but seeing 
that they were told in their language they 
did not interest us much, and we left there 
headed by our guide. 

We passed through the principal streets, 
through crowds of people who hardly moved 
enough to let us pass, and such poverty I 
never saw. Every one, almost, was in rags, 
and always looking for a stray coin, and 
every hand was held out in appeal. 

We kept on under old arches and through 
narrow alleys and between queer-looking 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 29 

dwellings, objects of as great curiosity to 
the people as they were to us. We came 
to a mosque where there was a long row of 
shoes before the door, belonging to the faith- 
ful who were inside saying their prayers. 
The worshippers take off their shoes on en- 
tering the sacred place, but Christians are 
not allowed in the mosque on any pretext. 

The next place of interest that we saw 
was the prison. It does not seem possible 
that such things can be in this century. The 
prison is a miserable place, and there is a 
hole in the wall which permits you to look 
in and the unhappy creatures inside to look 
out. In that small place were twenty or 
thirty people, all huddled together, ragged, 
thin, hungry, and altogether in a terrible 
condition. As soon as the prisoners saw us 
they held up their bony hands begging for 
something to eat, or money to buy it with. 
One man held up a pale and sickly looking 



30 EUEOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

baby and asked for something for it to eat. 
We gave him something, and the tears rolled 
down his face. I do not see why this poor 
little baby is kept in this foul prison. 

We visited the bank and what a bank ! 
There was nothing in it but some empty 
boxes. The doors Avere nothing but iron 
bars, with four large padlocks that w^ere 
ready to fall to pieces. A guard sat outside 
and when we had transacted our business 
he followed us more than a block, talking 
and gesticulating wildly because we did not 
give him more. Our guide said he always 
did that and not to mind him, and as we did 
not understand what he said it did not hurt 
us, and Ave paid no attention. 

We returned to the hotel without acci- 
dent, but after some excitement caused by 
the wicked old donkey that Charles rode. 
He insisted on stopping to reflect every few 
minutes and it took some time and a good 



EUKOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 31 

deal of labor to get him started again. He 
seemed to be as Charles expressed it, "all 
diied up" and he needed oiling. 

The ladies had got rested and dried and 
went to visit a Moorish harem. We went 
along and had the exciting pleasnre of sitting 
outside and waiting till they finished their 
visit. Aunt Mary told us afterward about 
the harem — that it was quiet and clean, with 
matting on the floor and some sort of divans 
but nothing remarkable. The women, three 
of them, I think, were dark and appeared 
very much pleased to receive the visit. One 
fell in love with Aunt Mary's earrings and 
wanted to trade with her for some pinch- 
beck jewelry of theirs. I believe they did 
exchange some little presents. 

That evening after dinner we went to a 
Moorish cafe, where huddled up in a little 
room were several musicians playing on a 
lot of stringed instruments. Seated around 



32 EUEOPE SEEN THKOITGH A BOY's EYES. 

were all the noblemen of Tangiers, smoking, 
and playing cards for money. The tobacco 
that they smoke has, they say, Indian hemp 
in it, and it stupefies the smoker. The mu- 
sicians play and sing and smoke until they 
are so overcome that they dance around like 
children. One of the musicians offered me 
his pipe, but I declined with thanks, and he 
seemed glad that I refused for he smiled 
and kept on smoking until he began to get 
gay and clap his hands and sing ; aiid such 
singing as it was! The music had all gone 
from his voice, and it was a serious i matter 
to sit and listen and make no sign ^of the 
agony I was enduring. 

We had a talk with the richest man in 
Tangiers, and found out that his fortune was 
about five thousand dollars of om money. 
He intended then to come to Amt ica and 
have a Moorish cafe at Chicago, but I did 
not find him there. This man tol us that 




STREET SCENE IN TANGIERS. 



EUEOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 33 

a person could live luxuriously in Tangiers 
on two hundred dollars a year. 

We were glad to leave the close atmos- 
phere and get out into the open air again. 
Aunt Mary fell in love with a lantern 
that the o^uide carried, and was o-oino^ to 
buy it ; but it was too big to carry, so she 
had to leave it. The streets have scarcely 
any lights, and every one who goes out at 
night has to carry a lantern, which would 
be a fine signal for a robber hidden behind 
a dark corner. 

Next morning early Charles and I took 
a ride around town, and he couldn't get any 
other donkey than the poor dried up one 
that had made us so much trouble the day 
before. We rode out of town to see as 
much of the surrounding country as we 
could. The scenery is not as fine as it looks 
from Gibraltar, and the vegetation is rather 
scanty, with a good many prickly -looking 



34 EUKOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 

plants. But on the whole there was a fair 
amount of cultivation. Orange and lemon 
groves were numerous, and sugar cane, 
olives and other things are to be seen on 
every side ; but the farms, if they can be 
called that, are all small, and have poor 
houses and no good stables. 

There were several quite rough ravines, 
and the guide, who was on foot and who 
found no difficulty in going as fast as our 
animals, led us over several very steep 
places along the banks, where, if the don- 
keys had slipped we would have had quite 
a fall and a nice ducking ; but I believe 
that donkeys never do fall. 

A snake glided out from a bunch of weeds 
and disappeared on the other side of the road 
in the thick grass ; the guide said there were 
many kinds of very venomous serpents there. 

We entered an orange grove and the 
guards were picking oranges. The fruit 



EUKOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 35 

looked so tempting that we yielded and ate 
several. The trees were literally breaking 
under the weight of fruit and presented a 
beautiful sight, with the golden balls and 
green foliage, and under them the lovely car- 
pet of long grass and scarlet poppies. 

When we had finished we mounted ao^ain 
and on going towards the gate found a foun- 
tain, where a number of Moors were washino- 
their feet. Why they chose such a conspic- 
uous place for the purpose I do not know. 
Several of them turned to the shady places 
and in a few moments, while we looked at 
the men at their ablutions, picked and 
brought us a bunch of sweet violets, and 
they presented them to us with closed 
mouths and ready hands. Of course we 
understood and gave them some small coins 
for their prett}' thought. 

We then proceeded on our journey 
around the town, or rather city, for Tan- 



36 EUEOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY S EYES. 

giers has a population of about 18,000. The 
roads are very poor, and Imed with all sorts 
of rubbish, besides the Moors and their 
trains of donkeys. As we approached the 
city we turned and looked backward. There 
was the early morning sun shining on the 
caravans that were just coming over the dis- 
tant hills, and here and there a mounted 
soldier standing so that both he and his 
horse Avere outlined against the sky. There 
were hundreds of Moors going to the market 
place, and we followed, passing along by 
the walls where there was a caravan en- 
camped. It was an interesting sight. 

There was a gray, weather-stained tent, 
with a savage-looking Arab sitting at its 
door. There were camels and donkeys, 
some of them loaded with bundles of grass 
twice as large as themselves. There wei-e 
one or two baby camels with funny little 
faces, and seeming to be all leo:s and feet. 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 37 

There were Bedouins in their queer-shaped 
hoods and mantles, and all these were clus- 
tered around the tent — all quiet and wait- 
ing for some word of command to wake 
' it up. 

Just inside the gates there was a sort of 
rude bazar where I think they made a com- 
merce of old and new burnouses. On the 
walls were dozens of them hanging like so 
many codfish, waiting a customer. Women 
with covered heads and bare feet moved 
around like ghosts, and strange looking men 
in turbans, or red fez, or pointed hoods 
moved to and fro with dignity. On the 
ground there sat several merchants, each 
with all his stock in a little basket. I never 
saw anyone make a sale while I was in 
Tangiers, excepting when one of our party 
bouo^ht somethino^. 

We entered the place by the North gate 
and rode toward the centre of all attraction, 



38 EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 

the market place, where the crowd was as 
great as the day before. Our guide kept up 
with the donkeys and even persuaded them 
to go faster, and this I consider remarkable, 
for he was on foot and the road rough and 
stony. 

We saw Selim, our general guide, who 
was with Aunt Mary who had gotten out for 
the first time since the disaster to her dress. 
She and our other friends had been looking 
all over for us, and it was almost impossible 
to sret throuD^h the crowd, but at last we 
met, and started on over the same ground 
we had travelled the day before, and we all 
found many things of interest, not so much 
on account of its excellence as from the 
Oriental flavor over it all. I bought a curi- 
ous dagger for a paper knife for a dollar, 
and a red fez with a white turban to go 

CD 

a,round it, and I put it on to the intense 
amusement of the people, for no one but 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 39 

priests or married men wear the white tur- 
ban. I found it comfortable, so I didn't 
care. The rest of our party bought little 
souvenirs of one kind and another and I 
decided that if I did buy a puppy I would 
call it Selim. 

After this promenade we returned to the 
hotel and had lunch and started back to Gib- 
raltar. The passage was very rough and no- 
body felt very well. Altogether it was the 
most uncomfortable voyage I ever took. 
The spray came over the boat and wet us, 
and the poor steerage passengers were not 
in it at all. They were about the most mis- 
erable-set I ever did see. I wonder why it 
is that the poor have to take all the miser- 
ies, and suffer so. 

As we skirted along the coast of Africa, 
our attention was called to the numerous 
watch towers half a mile apart, where the 
Moors used to send alarms all along the 



40 EUEOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

coast in times of danger, by lighting bon- 
fires on the tops of the towers. 

Tangiers from a distance began to grow 
beautiful again, nestled up along the side of 
the hill and extending almost to the edge of 
the sea. The buildings showed out whitely 
against the blue sky and green trees, and 
the strange architecture grew more aiid'more 
fascinating as we drew farther away, yet 
the passage was so rough and unpleasant 
that we were all o^lad to see the bio- rock 
of Gibraltar towering above our heads, and 
we were soon at the hotel and happy to 
be there. 



CHAPTER III. 



GEENADA. 



.Qj FTER a good night's rest we took the 
^7)- boat for Algerch-as, a small to\\ni across 
the bay from Gibraltar, and there I had my 
first experience on a European railroad train. 
After having been examined Jby the custom 
house officers for anything contraband we 
took a lumbering old stage to the station, 
where we were to commence our tour 
through Spain. We found our train waiting 
for us, and it looked more like a lot of horse 
cars hitched together and drawn by a pre- 
historic monster, than a train of cars as we 
have them. The cars are about half as long 
as our American cars and divided off into 



42 EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY S EYES. 

compartments which hold from six to eight 
persons. 

When the train pulls out of the station 
the conductor — who, I think, must be the 
missing link between man and monkey, he 
was so agile and climbed along the outside 
platform so well, hanging on by his side- 
whiskers half the time — locked us in, and 
no matter what happened we couldn't get 
out until we reached a station. 

You get in with any- or everybody that 
goes first class. The second class is much 
worse than the first, and the third class is 
terrible, or at least I thought so as I peeped 
in when I was on the platform. When the 
cars start they jerk and struggle and fly 
back and do all sorts of things, but at last 
go off at a slow, uneven pace. 

There was not a good chance to see the 
country as the windows are small, and 
those who sit in the middle of the stuffy 



EUEOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 43 

seats can not look out. We reached 
Grenada that evening, tired and dusty but 
so glad to get out of the car that we did 
not feel cross. 

Grenada is so beautiful that no words 
could describe it, and it is no wonder that 
so many persons go to see it. The scenery 
is quiet and peaceful, and the Sierra Nevada 
Mountains in the distance and the blue riv- 
ers, the Darro, the Genii, and the Vega, 
winding along at their feet made a lovely 
background. The city is large and quaint 
and picturesque, with many interesting 
things to see. 

We rode along in the hotel coach and 
were more than delighted with what we saw. 
Aunt Mary looked at the neat little balco- 
nies plastered up against the houses like 
swallows' nests, and where there sat beau- 
tiful Spanish ladies dressed in bright colors, 
with rich black lace mantles over their 



44 EUEOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

heads, and wanted to transport one, ladies 
and all, and fasten it on her own house. 

These little balconies are often carved 
and highly ornamented, and have hangings 
of tapestries thrown over them. It was all 
so different from anything I had seen that I 
grew quite enthusiastic. Down in the streets 
it is quiet, much more so than any place I 
had yet seen. There were sleepy-looldng 
men lounging up against the walls, and la- 
dies sitting silent in the balconies. Even the 
children were not very noisy except one party 
where they were playing at bull -fight. One 
big boy was on his knees, for the bull, and 
three others were hopping around him with 
sticks for lances and old rags for the red cloth. 

The streets are not very wide nor are 
they very narrow, but the houses are so 
different from ours on the outside that as I 
looked at the carvings, and noted the mass- 
ive styles and strange architecture I could 



EUEOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 45 

think I was dreaming. Donkeys wej^e eve- 
rywhere. They lined the roads and patient- 
ly bore all sorts of burdens, from grass which 
they were not allowed to nibble, to as many 
people as could crowd on them. I noticed 
one sleepy little fellow with a white nose, 
whose master was half lying on top of half 
a ton or less of grass, which covered the don- 
key all but his nose, and the man was play- 
ing on his guitar while the poor little beast 
plodded on. The donkeys provide free mu- 
sic in Spain for all who like it. 

Our hotel was at the end of one of the 
most beautiful drives I ever saw, and there 
we passed two most delightful days. We 
hail a fine dinner that night, and I rose 
early the next morning and was looking 
about to admire the country and to see all 
1 could, when I came across some of the ser- 
vants in a little enclosure milking goats and 
donkeys. After that I was afraid to eat or 



46 EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 

drink anything in Spain. I left that scene 
and walked on np a hill where I got a fine 
view of the whole great valley, and the dim 
mountain peaks beyond. Long, winding 
roads stretch off in every direction, through 
the hills and valley, and little streams come 
tumbling down from the hills and go off to 
meet the river in the distance. I could see 
on the summit of a hill the buildings of the 
famous Alhambra, which have for so many 
centuries been the admiration of all who love 
beauty, but I overcame my desire to go up 
there then, as we were all to go up after 
breakfast. 

As we approached the door of Justice, 
which is the entrance to the Alhambra, the 
guide began his speech about a gloved hand 
over the first arch, but his English was so 
bad that we could not understand what it 
was all about, but it was very impressive 
and we all listened gravely. 



EUKOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 47 

From the outside the Alhambra does not 
give any idea of the wonders of its interior, 
but it looks like a great cluster of massive 
buildings of different shapes and sizes. It 
is only when you get inside that you can 
understand it. Every room or gallery leads 
to and is a part of something else, and the 
fineness of work and richness of color is so 
great that it is a long time before it can be 
taken in detail. 

We went up the narrow passage which 
leads to the watch tower, where Cardinal 
Mendoza first hoisted the Christian flag. The 
Alhambra was built by the Moors and was 
begun in 1248 and finished in 1354. The 
whole edifice covers an oblong square 770 
yards long by 200 wide and is on a spur of 
the mountain range of the Sierra Nevada 
Mountains. There was a strong wall all 
around it flanked by thirteen towers. It is 
said that there is space between the walls 



48 EUKOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

and the Alhambra to allow 40,000 soldiers 
to camp. All this has trees and shrubs 
and in many places fountains and other 
ornamentation, but it is not well kept up. 
There was a little village with a convent 
and other quite large buildings erected within 
the walls, but this seems to be pretty nearly 
in ruins now. I think the Alhambra should be 
left alone in its solitary grandeur, but care 
be taken to maintain it in good preservation. 

The Alhambra has been the dwelling- 
place of kings from the Moors to Christian 
monarchs for many centuries, and it is wor- 
thy of a royal owner. The name "Alham- 
bra" means the red house. The palace of 
the Moorish kings consists of a group of 
buildings of red bricks. On one side of the 
square of the tower is the unfinished palace 
of Charles V. 

The two principal courts are the Court 
of the Lions and the Patio del Eslanque ; the 




< 

35 

< 
o 



EUKOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 49 

Court of Lions is one hundred feet long and 
fifty wide, surrounded by a colonnade ten 
feet deep, formed of Moorish arches and 
columns. 

The floor of the court is paved with beau- 
tifully colored tiles, and everywhere is the 
inscription in blue enamel and gold, in Ara- 
bic, " There is no conqueror but God." In 
the centre there is a fountain supported by 
twelve lions, which look as much like lions 
as a friend of mine of the same name does. 
They are very mild and gentle looking lions. 
Perhaps they have been tamed by the ele- 
ments and the passage of time. It is curi- 
ous that men capable of working out the 
wonders of this wonderful palace could not 
have carved out better looking animals, but 
their talent seemed to all run to the intricate 
work on the buildings. 

The basin of the fountain is of Oriental 
alabaster. The other principal court is the 



50 EUEOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 

Patio del Eslanque, and has a large fountain 
filled with fishes, in the middle, with marble 
steps on each side which lead to the bottom. 
I think this must have been for a bathing 
tank. 

The decorations are all of stucco and mo- 
saic and vary in color, which is wonderfully 
preserved. On one side is a circular room,, 
with its elegant cupola, and its beautiful de- 
signs in stucco on the w^alls. It is said that 
Abu Abdallah assembled his Abencerrages 
in that room and cut all their heads off and 
let them fall into the fountain, and the guides 
show some red spots on the marble as proof. 

Opposite this hall is a little one which 
connects with the apartments of Charles V, 
and thence to the Sultana's dressing room. 
In one of the corners are tiles which were 
perforated, and the guide told us this had 
been done to let perfumes rise from the 
rooms below. 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 51 

The Whispering Chamber, the Hall of 
the Ambassadors and the Audience Hall are 
a few more of the wonderful rooms to be 
seen in this marvel of architecture. Eooms 
open out of rooms, and galleries out of gal- 
leries till I believe one might be completely 
lost in the Alhambra without a guide. 

The Hall of the Ambassadors occupies 
nearly, if not quite, all of the Comares 
Tower, and the light enters through win- 
dows and doorways. The latter lead out 
into gardens, but from there you can look 
out on the plain of Grenada. The stucco 
ornaments are nearly two feet deep, and 
seen from a short distance look like jewelry. 
The tiles and mosaic work in this room are 
very small compared with some of the 
others, but the coloring is wonderful, much 
of it having more yellow than any other 
color. There is in this great place the re- 
mains of a platform where it is supposed 



52 EUKOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

the throne was placed. It would take 
months of study to know all the beauties 
of the Alhambra. 

It is said that there are mysterious un- 
derground passages arranged so that people 
could escape in case of danger, but those 
we did not see. 

One of the saddest sights is the palace 
left unfinished by Charles V. The rest had 
been built and occupied, and had had, so to 
speak, their day ; but this beautiful palace 
fell into ruins before it was ever inhabited, 
and the empty window casements stare out 
in a most melancholy manner. 

One of the most beautiful effects is that 
of the bright sun shining down through the 
unroofed courts. The sky is so blue above, 
and the shadows and sunbeams playing 
among the columns and arches are so clear 
cut that the more one looks at it the more 
beautiful it is. 



EUKOPE SOON THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 53 

There is scarcely any marble used in 
this vast place. It is nearly all stone and 
brick, and tiles set into the stncco in the 
most fantastic shapes and designs. That 
is, if they are taken singly ; if taken al- 
together it has a wonderful beauty and 
smoothness. The mosaics are made of 
colored tiles, not of broken stones as they 
are in some other places seen later. These 
are richer in coloring than the stone mosaic 
work, and far handsomer. 

We were at the Hotel Washington Irving, 
named so, I think, to attract American tour- 
ists; but, it was said there that it w^as in 
consequence of his beautiful description of 
the Alhambra. 

Grenada is beautiful always, but I think 
it is most so at early morning or just at sun- 
set. There are nightingales in the woods, 
and they sing once in a while, and when they 
are not singing you can sit and feast your 



54 EUKOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES.. 

eyes on the beautiful landscape and wait for 
them to begin again. 

A lady of our party was sure that she 
heard one close to the hotel, but, we discov- 
ered that it was a poor hen that was being 
sacrificed for our luncheon on the train, and 
I must say that aside from the chicken the 
Spanish hotel keepers are not to be recom- 
mended for putting up lunches. Ours was 
mostly basket, with sour bread and eggs, 
more remarkable for strength than anything 
else. One was so very strong that it was 
with difficulty that I got it out of the car 
window, and they have curious ideas of 
dressing a chicken. 

As I said before, there are many donkeys 
in Grenada, also beggars, many of them gyp- 
sies. On our return from the Alhambra, we 
met the king of the gypsies. He struck a 
kingly attitude and let us admire him, 
then offered to sell us his photographs for 




GYPSY KING IN (JRKNADA. 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 55 

forty cents apiece. As soon as we had 
bought one he bowed and returned to his 
royal dignity backed by a stone wall. He 
carried a long staff and was dressed in the 
old Spanish style. His people lived at a 
little distance from the city, and I was told 
that the most of them lived in caverns hol- 
lowed out of the mountain side. It is said 
that it is very interesting to go and see their 
dances, particularly at their festivals and 
weddings, but it was not the right time for 
that while we were there. 

Charles and I took a short gallop through 
the little villa o-es surroundino- Grenada, on 
horseback, but as it threatened to rain we 
were obliged to return. The horses we 
saw in Spain were not very handsome, and 
though the Spaniards ride well they man- 
age their horses more" through the pain 
of the cruel bit they use, than by gentle- 
ness such as is shown by the Arabs of 



56 EUKOPE SEEN THBOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

Tangier s. It was pleasure to see them 
ride, and quite the reverse to see the Span- 
iards on horseback. 

That evening we started for Seville. 



CHAPTER IV. 



SEVILLE. 



^lO^^E were in Seville, and found it a beau- 
5^1 c) tiful place with even more of interest 
than we had found in Grenada. It looked 
more alive and fresher and newer some 
way. The people, too, I fancied looked 
more alert, and the houses had for the most 
part a more modern appearance, yet it was 
all so different from our own country that it 
had all the delio^ht of a strano;e sioht. As 
we wandered through the city we could see 
beautiful o^ardens, throuo-h the lattice work 
of the gates. These were wrought very 
finely, in a great variety of patterns of iron, 
and some were gilded. There were patios 



58 EUEOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

inside with fountains and no end of flowers 
of every kind. I suppose it was not very 
polite to peep through these gratings at the 
private gardens inside, but we did it, 
and often saw statues and splendid carv- 
ings around the fountains. After all, 
it may be that these open gratings were 
put there on purpose for people to look 
through. 

After a long stroll through the city, we 
went to the Alcazar, which the guide tells, 
you was built for a palace for Don Pedro the 
cruel. The palace is beautiful in its design 
and coloring, and has an Oriental look. The 
color and patterns are woven in together so 
that they look like cloth like that they make 
the India shawls of. The roofs of the dif- 
ferent portions of the immense building rise 
in domes of diflerent sizes, and the effect is 
very light and graceful, and it reminds one 
very much of the Alhambra, but is in better 




O 



O 









EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 59 

preservation. The colors on the walls m the 
mysterious patterns are as fresh as if they 
were painted yesterday. 

After we had gone through the Alcazar 
and admired all its beauties to the full con- 
tent of the guide, we visited the Cathedral, 
which is a fine building, and the Giralda 
stands by its side. The Giralda is a tower 
and was built bv the Moors, and seeino- what 
beautiful work they did, and noting that 
nearly all the fine buildings in Spain were 
built by those same old Moors, I think it 
is a pity they were driven away. 

The Giralda is the lightest and most 
graceful tower I saw abroad. It is said that 
the tower at Madison Square is modelled 
after it, but as nearly as I can recollect ours 
cannot be as large. We went to see the 
picture gallery where there are twenty-four 
pictures by Murillo, and we also saw his 
house. 



60 EUKOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

It is a pretty sight to watch the people 
come out of the Cathedral. The ladies 
nearly all wear the Spanish mantilla. When 
they wear it to church the lace falls over 
the hair down to the forehead, and at other 
times it is put on the head over the high 
comb and a couple of red roses, and then 
carried backward and crossed over, and is 
held by only one pin. The ends are brought 
around across the waist and fastened there 
by some more roses. If ladies knew how 
pretty they would look in these lace man- 
tillas every woman in America would want 
one. I bought one for my mother. 

The children in Seville are dark, but 
pretty, with large, dark eyes and white 
teeth, and they are always laughing. The 
ladies are pretty, too, and the men are 
polite and never too busy to speak kindly 
to a stranger. I liked Seville very much. 
We went to the market place and bought a 



EUKOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 61 

number of trinkets which are very cheap, 
and several kinds of fruit. The oranges are 
delicious. 

After this we saw some of Columbus' 
work, and some of his writing, and a num- 
ber of other curiosities, and then we went 
to a tobacco factory where seven thousand 
women were employed, three thousand of 
them in one room. Those who had babies 
took them along Avith them when they went 
to work, and they were taken care of. It 
is said that it makes the people very sick 
with cramps when they first begin to work 
in a tobacco factory, but no one that I saw 
looked sick. The little children were all 
rosy and plump and as lively as tadpoles in 
a pond. 

We went to see the House of Pilate, 
which a rich man built after he had been to 
the Holy Land. He had this house built as 
an exact reproduction of Pontius Pilate's 



62 EUROPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY'S EYES. 

house in Jerusalem. Everything looked so 
strange and different from the things outside 
the building that one could well believe it 
was in some far off country and that we were 
living in the time when such things were. 

Seville is a walled city, and is built on 
the banks of the Guadalquiver. The w^alls 
are over three miles around and for the 
most part are in a good state of preservation. 
It is a beautiful city, seen from both outside 
ani inside. It is mostly built of light- col- 
ored building material or painted in bright 
colors, that is, the wooden portion is. This 
city, with its Alcazar, and all its greatest 
edifices was originally founded by the Moors. 
On the hills surrounding Seville are num- 
bers of ruined castles and towers, and every- 
where are orange and olive gardens. The 
Alcazar is nearly as fine as the Alhambra. 

Several of the churches were originally 
mosques, or Moorish towers, rebuilt or al- 



EUKOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 63 

tered enough to serve the purpose, and over 
it all there hangs a mysterious air of the 
dead and gone past. 

We v^ould have liked to stay in Seville 
longer, but our time was limited, and that 
evening we left for Cordova and reached 
there the next morning and we had but 
a short time for siojht seein^-. We drove 
through the principal streets, and to the 
grand mosque, which is another place built 
by the Moors, and as it was too beautiful 
to destroy, and besides would have been a 
good deal of work, it has remained to be a 
centre of interest. Cordova is a very old 
town, and the houses are weather-beaten 
and ancient. There are many very ancient 
families who live in Cordova, in their old 
feudal style, as well as it can be made to 
fit in with nineteenth century ways. They 
drive out every fair evening in open carriages, 
it is said, and go slowly through the quiet 



64 EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 

streets to the regular promenade, and they 
bow to their friends, and listen to the music 
of the band as their carriages pass and re- 
pass the music stand. Then they drive 
over the old bridge and back home. 

This city is walled, and the wall was 
built, the guide told us, by the Romans who 
founded the city, and seen from outside looks 
much like an old fortress, and it has a more 
ancient appearance than the other cities in 
Spain, more I think in the shape and out- 
lines of the wall and buildings than any act- 
ual decay. 

The bridge was built by the Romans and 
all through the city are remains of their 
style of architecture, and there are arches, 
temples and gates- still in pretty good pres- 
ervation. We all like to look at ruins and 
relics while abroad, but I don't believe 
Americans would care very much to have 
them home. The great Cathedral was built 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 65 

for a mosque, and that mosque was built on 
the spot where the Romans had had a tem- 
ple to Janus. 

This Cathedral looks like a fortress out- 
side and is enormously large on the inside, 
giving the idea of immense space. There 
were rows on rows of beautiful columns of 
semi-precious stones. I think there are 
over a thousand columns. 

All the country around seems to be very 
fertile, and certainly it is beautiful. 



CHAPTER y. 



MADEID. 



/GIfFTER we had seen all that we could 
-^^^-^ crowd into one day we left Cordova for 
Madrid and reached there the next day, hav- 
ing passed Toledo without stopping. We 
stayed in Madrid four days. 

I cannot begin to tell half of the things I 
saw in Madrid. There was so much to see, 
that it is confused, and, if it had not been 
for more sedate -minded Charles I should not 
have been able to place anything, as he 
kindly furnished me his notes of what we 
saw there. 

Madrid is a grand city but not well pla- 
ced, as it is in the middle of a wide plain, 



EUROPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 67 

when it could have been built on some of 
the low mountains that surround it. The 
streets must have originally been goat tracks, 
as the oldest parts of " old Madrid " are the 
most crooked I ever saw, and I have been to 
Boston. But the more modern portion has 
straighter streets, some broad and fine. The 
public gardens look from a distance like a 
colored patchwork quilt. The Prado is one 
of the finest drives in the world. Every- 
where there are statues and trophies and 
historical houses, and the homes of the old 
nobility of Spain. Each of these families 
has a history that is generally associated 
with the history of the country in some way. 
As to pictures Madrid is rich in the choic- 
est works of most of the Old Masters, and I 
think I saw them all. I know I saw a great 
many, but the backgrounds of nearly all of 
these are dark and confused, still the faces 
are wonderful. Perhaps when I get older 



68 EUEOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY'S EYES. 

and know more I shall like them better. I 
got photographs of them all. 

The churches are so many that it would 
be impossible to name them all, and the 
people seem very devout, and go to church 
regularly, even if they do go to a bull -fight 
later. I saw some of the famous pictures 
painted by Murillo. We saw all the picture 
galleries, and went through the public gar- 
dens and parks, which are very fine and 
well kept up. There was a grand parade, 
but what it was for I could not find out, but 
I think it must have been some sort of re- 
ligious celebration. I went to visit Seiior 
Sagasta, by appointment, but on account of 
the fete all the royal family were away, and 
he had to go with them, so I did not see the 
baby King of Spain, nor Senor Sagasta 
either, to my great regret, for I could not 
remain until they returned to the city. But 
I saw the palace. 



EUKOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOy's EYES. 69 

We took a train and went out to the 
Escurial, which is situated about twenty-five 
miles from Madrid, and it is said to be one 
of the most remarkable buildings in the 
world. It was built by Philip II. of Spain 
in memory of a victory over the French, 
and is built on the same plan as St. Peter's 
at Rome. 

There is a gallery of famous paintings 
and a renowned library, a college and a 
cloister, and no end of other apartments and 
rooms. It is set in the midst of ruo-o-ed 

CO 

mountains, and is built of dark stone. It is 
surrounded by well kept and beautiful gar- 
dens. In the park there are many fountains 
of the most exquisite workmanship. The 
monarchs of Spain often spend their sum- 
mers here, and no one could blame them. 
The great building has been constructed so 
as to form hollow courts, and the ouide 
said it was to represent the gridiron on 



70 EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOy's EYES. 

which St. Lawrence was broiled. And the 
guide said, also, that there were 14,000 
doors and 11,000 windows, and the windows 
are all square, not arched or otherwise dec- 
orated. I think the building by far the more 
impressive, seen from the inside. There 
seems to be an endless line of galleries and 
rooms each a part of the general effect. The 
pictures are rare and fine ; but the library 
struck me most. There is no possibility of 
counting the rare and remarkable books 
gathered here, and I hope they are well in- 
sured, though no insurance could replace 
them. I saw an English gentleman light a 
cigar and throw the lighted match right be- 
hind a shelf of books in a very careless manner. 

At the Escorial, or Escurial, as some call 
it, Ave saw the tombs of several kings, and 
those of the infantas. 

We also saw the Pantheon and the Royal 
Palace, and visited a monastery, where every- 



EUEOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 71 

thing was so strange and silent as to seem 
almost unreal. 

At the Escm^al we bought some sweet 
lemons, the first that I ever saw ; but, alto- 
gether, 1 think I never passed such a miser- 
able, unhappy day as that spent there. 
Everything went wrong, and it was dull, 
cold and gloomy, and so my remembrance 
of the Escurial is shrouded in dull clouds. 

One of the odd sights in Madrid is to 
watch the traveling merchants. Each one 
carries his wares slung all over him. Some- 
times it is pots that he sells, of every shape 
and color. Sometimes chairs and again 
fruit, or almost anything. The men who 
sell these things stick to the national cos- 
tume but many of the fairly well to do, and 
almost all of those who are well off wear 
European clothes and the most of the wom- 
en wear bonnets. There was one man who 
was fat and red faced who had a basket full 



72 EUEOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

of cakes or pies, and another who wandered 
apparently aimlessly about with a couple of 
dead rabbits for sale. They sell everything 
in the streets of Madrid — from things that 
we would consider entirely worthless to 
watches and quite fine jewelry and curios. 
We have plenty of street peddlers, but they 
do not look picturesque, nor do they lounge 
against walls that are fairly honeycombed 
with age, and the stories the guides tell 
about them. Some of those stories are 
pretty hard. How many places have been 
pointed out as ancient prisons where beauti- 
ful young princesses and kings and queens 
have been kept, or perhaps beheaded, I do 
not know. I lost count of them, but I got 
the impression that nobody that had royal 
blood ever died a natural death. 

There are a good many gypsies in Mad- 
rid, and they are very sharp and shrewd, and 
if you buy anything of them you are almost 



EUKOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 73 

sure to be taken in. I did not buy anything 
of them, but I bought a nice cane for my 
father, of Toledo make. I did not want to 
burden myself with a lot of stuff almost in 
the beginning of my voyage, but I felt sorry 
afterwards that I did not o^et some thino^s I 
wanted and that I could not find after. 

Charles and I tramped as we had done 
at Grrenada, and left dear Aunt Mary to rest, 
as the railway ride and so much sight- seeing 
were too much for her, still she went around 
with us a good deal. She was very patient 
with us though I fear we were noisy and a 
little crazy with the novelty and pleasure of 
seeing so many wonders. We wanted her to 
go and see the bull -fight, but she drew the 
line risht there. 



CHAPTER VI. 

A BULL- FIGHT IN MADRID. 

^iQ^HEN you are in Madrid you are ex- 
&>^c) pected to see a bull-fight as much as 
you are to see all the churches and palaces. 
Indeed if one or the other were to be left 
unseen it would be the churches, for the 
bull -fight is considered of far lupre import- 
ance, at least by the Spanish. 

Charles and I took a cab and drove to 
the place where every Sunday at three 
o'clock they have their bull -fights. This 
day was a holiday, and on that account the 
fight took place on Saturday. It was on 
the outskirts of the city and at the end of 
one of the principal streets. 



EUKOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 75 

There is a large amphitheatre which will 
hold 20,000 persons, and it presents a pic- 
turesque sight when full of people, — the 
women in bright colors, with their black lace 
mantillas and waving fans. The men are 
dressed more brilliantly than the women, 
and all wait impatiently for the fight to 
beo'in. 

The ring is of sandy earth surrounded by 
a boarded wall which one might call double, 
as there is a low one first over which the 
bull -fighters can jump when too closely 
pressed, and around the inner one is a nar- 
row platform to aid the men in .their leaps 
to safety. There are large numbers painted 
on the outer wall, but I do not know what 
they were for. Above the outer wall are 
arranged the seats and boxes, that of the 
king being directly in the centre. We 
secured seats by the side of the king's box 
and so had a good view. 



76 EUKOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

The bull-fighters were all dressed in bril- 
liant colors, with much embroidery and gold 
lace, and they wore their hair in little braid- 
ed tails or in twists, and they were all very 
fancy when they went into the ring, but 
looked pretty dirty and ragged before the 
fight was ended. 

The entrance fee is graduated so that 
anybody can go, even the very beggars. 
Women and children go, too, and as soon as 
mass is over they throng the place, and sit 
waiting impatiently for the sound of the 
trumpet which is the sign it is about to 
begin. 

When we arrived the ring was crowded, 
and as it was too early for the fight the 
people amused themselves by throwing 
oranges from the ring to the galleries with 
sure aim. 

The bulls are generally six and chosen, I 
am told, from nearby places. They are kept 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY S EYES. / / 

for twenty -four hours without food or water 
and m a dark place. 

When the appointed time comes the mu- 
sic plays and the trumpet sounds and a pro- 
cession of matadors, picadores and espados 
enter the ring and march around, and as they 
reach the king's box they take off their hats 
and salute it whether the king is there or 
not. Then the key is thrown to the guar- 
dian of the gate who unlocks the cage. This 
time as the door opened there came out a 
young bull with sharp horns set close to- 
gether, which are much more deadly than 
those spreading wider. The men took their 
places before the bull was fairly in the ring. 
He dashed forward, half blinded by the light, 
and there he stood pawing and smelling the 
the ground. Then he rushed at the nearest 
matador, but the rush was skillfully dodged 
by the aid of a large red cloth fluttered be- 
fore the bull's eyes. 



78 EUEOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY'S EYES. 

Each matador in turn then teased the 
bull with the red rag, and as he would make 
a wild rush at one or the other they would 
lightly step aside or let him pass under their 
arms so close that it would make me shudder. 

Afcer ten or fifteen minuses of torment- 
ing the bull, the horses were brought in and 
mounted by the picadores, who were gor- 
geously dressed, and carried lances with 
short spikes. 

The horses were the poorest, most mis- 
erable looking creatures I ever saw, and they 
were thin and lame. It is said that some- 
thing is given them which gives them a sem- 
blance, of spirit for a little while. They are 
blindfolded and have the cruel Spanish bit 
in their mouths, and with all these tortures 
the poor brutes are spurred on to almost cer- 
tain death. 

The first horse was brought about five 
yards from the bull who stood looking at him 



EUKOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 79 

and pawing the ground. Then he charged 
full on the horse and was received by the 
mounted picador with a prick from the 
lance. Sometimes the horse was lifted up 
over the bull's head, rider and all, but gen- 
erally the bull gored the horse to death. 

The moment the bull would see a horse 
he would make a dash for him and nearly 
always manage to catch the horse under the 
stomach and throw horse and rider over. 
One rider was hurt and was carried off by 
two men. I saw ten horses killed in this 
way by eight bulls, and six bulls killed by 
the men. The people appeared to enjoy 
the killing of the horses intensely. 

When a horse was too dead to be dragged 
to his feet with blows or forced to stagger 
blindly along leaving streams of blood be- 
hind him, the bull would be enticed away 
while the dead horse was dragged out and 
then it was the bull's own turn to be killed, 



80 EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY S EYES. 

but he at least has one chance, as he can 
see as far as the dust and rage will permit. 

The matadors would entice the bull away 
with their red rags, and when he would 
plunge at them they would dart nimbly 
aside, and thrust short darts into the bull's 
neck. They throw six or eight into one 
bull's neck, making the blood trickle down 
in streams, and enraging him still more. 
The horsemen . have usually given the bull 
several prods with the lance before this. 
Towards the last when he begins to grow 
exhausted they used darts that were bombs, 
and these would explode and burst into 
flame making the poor animal bellow with 
pain. 

Sticking these darts into the bull's neck 
is one of the hardest and most dangerous 
things to do. But after a while the bull be- 
gins to totter and waver in his motions and 
foam tinged with blood runs from his mouth. 



EUKOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 81 

and then the last act in the drama of his 
life begins. The man whose business it is 
to finish the killing of the bull stands off a 
few yards and begins lifting his arms up 
and dow^n until the bull with his eyes blood- 
shot and his tongue hanging out makes one 
final rush forward and charges upon the man, 
who lightly steps aside and reaches over the 
bull's horns and places two darts one in each 
shoulder, hampering the bull's movements. 
Then the espado steps forward with his 
short, sharp sword and red rag teasing the 
wretched creature until he finds his weakest 
point, and watching his chance plunges the 
sword into the neck, and if the blow be a 
true one, and it generally is, the bull falls 
dead as if struck by lightning. 

As soon as the last shiver has passed 
over the bull the espado jumps upon the 
body and stabs it once or twice more and 
then strikes a circus attitude while the peo- 



82 EUEOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY'S EYES. 

pie go wild, and shout and throw bouquets, 
cigars and hats into the ring. The espado 
throws the hats back but the rest are his 
own. It is said that people often throw him 
jewels and other valuables, but that I did 
not see. 

As soon as two or three horses and one 
bull are killed, more are brought in, and the 
same thing is repeated with little variation. 
Some bulls have very little fight in them, and 
the people shout to " kill him " and such have 
little mercy. The people judge of the suc- 
cess of the bull -fight by the number of de- 
crepit horses mangled and killed, and I heard 
that not long ago there was very nearly a 
revolution because there were not horses 
enough killed in the fights. 

After the horses and bulls were all killed, 
they let in a young bull with covered horns, 
and all the gamins were permitted to go in 
the ring against him, and he tossed them 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 83 

around to his heart's content to the great 
delight of the people, who seem to look upon 
this as the farce after the tragedy. 

Aside from the bull -fights there are thea- 
tres, and the public promenades on the Prado 
of afternoons by way of amusements in Mad- 
rid, and also operas in season. The Spanish 
love music very much, and it seems as if 
every one can play on the guitar and sing. 



CHAPTER YII. 

BUKGOS TO THE KIVIEEA. 

|E left for Burgos, on our way across 
c) the Pyrenees to France, after a most 
wretched day. It was cold and windy, and 
there was nothing to do but wait for the 
train which left at 12.30 that night, and 
therefore made but a short stay in that city ; 
but we visited several points of interest, 
among them the Town Hall, where they keep 
the bones of the Cid in a case. There is a 
castle which was built in 895 A. D., and it 
is very interesting to those who love antiq- 
uities. Every foot of ground and every great 
building is more or less historic in Spain, and 
worthy of careful study. 



EUKOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 85 

When we were on our way across the 
great chain of mountains I felt really sad to 
leave Spain with her almost universal look 
of past glories, and pass over the snow -clad 
Pyrenees into France. 

Perhaps it was my imagination, but I felt 
sure that the landscape wore a lighter, trim- 
mer look. Wherever we passed a farm or 
village everything was clean and neat and 
the people were at work, instead of lounging 
around, smoking vile black cigars. Really, 
laziness is brought to a fine art in Spain, and 
if the Moors hadn't built these grand old edi- 
fices I don't believe there would have ever 
been any Spain, but now the people have to 
live up to them to a certain degree. 

Along towards dark we began to come 
from under the shadow of those great moun- 
tains and draw near Pan, and I think I was 
never more glad than when we arrived at 
that beautiful place. We passed several 



86 EUEOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 

farms near that famous health resort, and I 
saw cows. Here, I thought, one can venture 
on a good glass of milk — and later I did. 
There was no chalk there nor water, and 
how good the milk was ! 

I cannot describe the grand and beautiful 
scenery on the way from Burgos to Pau. It 
was wild and savage in some parts and peace- 
ful and charming in others, but some of the 
mountain peaks were simply terrible — they 
were so rugged and barren. We spun 
around the mountains and across trestle 
bridges in a manner to make your hair curl, 
and I never expect to see so grand and sub- 
lime a sight again as the heart of the Pyre- 
nees. It must have been something of an 
undertaking in the old days to march an 
army through and over these rugged moun- 
tains and wild gorges. 

Pau is at the foot of^ these great snow- 
covered mountains, and from one window 




< 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 87 

you can look from the hotel and count the 
high white peaks, and from the other you 
can see the low and pleasant country where 
it is like a garden. Many Americans gather 
at Pau in the winter. From Pau we went 
to Cannes, passing through Marseilles and 
Toulouse. 

We were two hours only in Marseil- 
les, and had little time to see anything, 
but what I did I liked very much. The 
people all seemed busy and active. The 
French people are workers by nature and 
very neat and clean. We saw many for- 
eigners in their national costumes, and 
suppose they belonged to the ships, which 
gathered there from all countries. The 
stores are so neat and orderly that it is 
a pleasure to see them. The Canebiere is 
something worth seeing, for there is more 
business done there in an hour than any- 
where else in Europe. They say in Mar- 



88 EUEOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

seilles that if Paris had a Canebiere it would 
be nearly as good as a little Marseilles. 

From Marseilles we went on to Toulouse, 
where we spent the evening, but saw next 
to nothing there, as our time was so limited. 
We reached Cannes the last day of March, 
and started for Nice four days later. Can- 
nes is an interesting city, and is most beau- 
tifully situated on the shores of a curving 
bay, and is built up on the hill -side. In 
the distance can be seen a dim line of moun- 
tains, and there are always many sailing 
boats drawn up along the shore, with what 
I believe they call lateen sails, which look 
far too big for the boats. The old part of 
the city is very interesting with a style of 
architecture new to us, and quaint and ro- 
mantic. 

There are a great many semi-tropica] 
plants there that made it seem very pleas- 
ant, particularly along the Boulevard de la 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 89 

Croisette. This is a wide and well paved 
street, extending along tlie bay and bordered 
with palm trees. Along the upper side of 
this street are handsome houses with fine 
gardens with luxuriant flowers and trees, 
and between all the houses are green trees 
and creeping vines. 

There are many invalids in Cannes, and 
many very nice hotels to receive them. 
There are pleasant sails around the bay, and 
drives around the outskirts of the city, and 
a magnificent view of a large tract of beau- 
tiful country lying below the top of quite a 
high hill upon which one portion of the city 
is built. 

There are the usual number of churches 
and other places of general interest to see, but 
I cannot now recall what they were. I only 
know that we liked Cannes, and that it had 
a restful air about it, and that no one seems 
to care very much about working while 



90 EUEOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

there. The scenery is not wild, but the old 
part of the town is picturesque, both from a 
distance and when in it. I think the rest 
there did Aunt Mary good, and I know it did 
me, and I gave up to it all I could. 

From there we went to Nice where we 
stayed about a week. It is no wonder so 
many persons go there, and afterwards forget 
that there is any other place in the world. 
All you want to do is to wander about and 
see the strange faces of people from every- 
where, many of them Americans and Eng- 
lish. The people from these two countries, 
I think, must just about support Nice. It 
has a very even climate and the sun shines 
nearly always, so that many persons with 
weak chests go there. The gardens around 
are pleasant and the trees are semi-tropical 
with many palms and other plants that give 
Nice the air of a hot-house built out-doors. 
The hotel where we stayed fronts the bay, 




I— I 



EUROPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 91 

and from the windows one has a splendid 
picture painted by nature i' self. The Prome- 
nade des Anglaises is a fine street, and at 
all hours you will see people riding or walk- 
ing along and making the most of the pleas- 
ant hours. 

Cannes, Nice, Monte Carlo, and Mentone, 
are so near together that it is a pleasanVand 
not tiresome trip to go from one to another. 
Aunt Mary was so tired that she preferred 
to rest, and so Charles and I started from 
Nice to Monte Carlo on bicycles, where we 
had hoped to see the famous gambling place. 

We rode along the Cornichi roadway 
nine miles. This is a smooth and excellent 
road, built by Napoleon, very steep, and it 
lies along the sea, often shut on one side by 
high cliffs, and in two or three places it goes 
through a tunnel, or arcli of rock. The 
ride that day is one that I shall long re- 
member. The blue sky was reflected in the 



^ 



92 EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 



still water, which was so clear that we 
could see every pebble, and we saw lovely 
flowers OTOwino; in the crevices of the rocks 
above ns. There is a stone wall nearly 
breast-high along the sea edge of this fine 
road. 

We reached Monte Carlo tired and dus- 
ty, and looked too disreputable to be per- 
mitted to enter the gambling hall at Monaco. 
So we consoled ourselves by strolling around 
and admiring the surroundings. It seems 
as if everything that human minds could in- 
vent in the way of beautiful surprises had 
been put in that place. Rare flowers and 
plants, fountains and statues, wunding walks 
and fancy seats and little kiosks were eve- 
rywhere. We saw many people wandering 
around but nearly all had their eyes turned 
towards the promontory where the great 
gambling hall was. Later we all came to 
Monte Carlo and spent a whole afternoon 




H 
I— I 

P. 
O 



o 



EXJEOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 93 

and evening, and the elder members of the 
party went into the great hall to see the 
gambling. No one is admitted who is under 
21. We drove about the place which has 
been made one of the most enticing places 
in the world, and all this has been paid for 
out of the money lost at the gaming tables. 
Charles and I were very hungry after our 
long ride that day and as we were to return 
we thought we would have some refresh- 
ment and ordered evervthino- we wanted, but 
when we came to pay our bill it took every 
cent we had with us, and did not leave any- 
thing for the waiter, and he was so angry 
that one would have thought he had been 
wilfully defrauded of a million dollars. On 
the way I think we met every beggar in 
the country, and after giving to the first 
ones all we could spare we had to hurry past 
the rest, looking up at the clinging vines and 
pretending not to see their outstretched 



94 EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY S EYES. 

hands. Some of them were really pitiful 
objects. One man I saw without legs, and 
another a hunchback dwarf. They are of 
all ages, from little children who will drop 
their playthings and run after travelers for 
small coins, and return to play, if they are 
fortunate or unlucky, with the same spirit. 
There are old beo^oarg whose wrinkled faces 
and round backs tell of much hardship, and 
there ar6 no end of blind and lame beggars. 
No person could give them all money. Near- 
ly all were, barefooted, and two or three 
times I felt an impulse to give some of 
them a card which would have been good 
for a pair of shoes in New York. I don't 
see how it is that there are so many beggars 
abroad that make a regular business of it. 
Who gives them enough to live on, and how 
do they live ? Does there not come a day 
when no one gives them anything and they 
simply die of hunger or do they get used to 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 95 

living without food. I do not know, but 
this I do know, the sight of so much suffer- 
ing was like a perpetual repi'oach to me. I 
cannot understand how God creates some 
people to suffer want and misery all their 
whole lives, and they are good people, too, 
and others have so much that they cannot 
begin to enjoy a thousandth part of it. But, 
He knows and it must be right. 

After we had left Monte Carlo we went 
to Genoa. 



CHAPTER YUl. 



GENOA. 



,^F Nice and Cannes, Mentone and Monte 
^ Carlo are beautifnl Genoa is interesting. 
We passed through that city going to Pisa, 
and Florence, and stayed there some days on 
our return and so I shall put all I saw there 
in one chapter. 

The harbor of Genoa is not large but 
the commerce is, and the ships and steam- 
ers and smaller craft are warped in in a 
wonderful manner, and they lay so close 
to each other that parties visit other ves- 
sels just as we might call on a next door 
neighbor. The harbor is protected by the 
moles, or we would call them bulkheads. 




o 

P3 



c 
o 



EUKOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY*S EYES. 97 

but it makes it safe for shipping in heavy 
storms. 

Genoa is not a very pretty city close to 
it or when in it. The houses in some of the 
old streets are so high and the streets so nar- 
row that they are slimy and smell musty, 
for the sun never gets in. When the foun- 
ders of this city begun it they had all out- 
doors to build on, and it is hard to under- 
stand how it was that they made such nar- 
row streets. I know some are not over six 
feet wide. Down in these narrow streets 
are many shops, particularly of the fila- 
gree workers, and the mosaic makers, and 
I think relic and coin factories, where 
relics and old coins are skilfully imitated 
to be sold to foreigners, who are their 
legitimate prey. Some of the silver and 
gold filagree is very beautiful and finely 
wrought. I think filagree work is a spe- 
cialty with the Genoese. Some of it 



98 EUEOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY'S EYES. 

looks like the tracings of frost on the 
windows. 

All along the port there is a wide quay, 
which is the chosen promenade of all the 
Genoese and there are many more of them 
than the size of the city would lead one to 
expect. I liked to watch them walk slowly 
along, and in fact, I saw no one in a hurry 
while there. Everything is "piano-piano" 
there, even the stevedores on the dock taking 
things easy. 

Genoa is built on seven hills, and there 
has been little attempt at grading the streets 
except in the most modern part. The old 
houses nearly all have stucco ornaments. 
The newer ones are quite fine. Some of the 
palaces of the ancient nobility are interest- 
ing to see, and become still more so as you 
listen to the wildly romantic histories given 
them by the guides. Nearly all have trees 
and gardens wherever it is possible, and the 




o 
w 

X 
H 

o 

PS 

;a 
o 

< 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 99 

parks and public gardens are very fine and 
clean. They have fine music in one of these 
parks evenings. There are 212,000 inhabit- 
ants and they are all music lovers. How 
many palaces there are I cannot tell, as I 
think we saw some of them more than once, 
but there were many and all fine buildings. 
And there are several, I think ten, forts and 
a wall and ramparts. This was the first time 
I had ever seen a fortified city, and it struck 
me very much, and the fortifications were 
more interesting to me than anything else. 

There are many churches, and in most 
of them were fine paintings, among them 
several by Rubens, who, they tell you lived 
in Genoa awhile, and there were other 
famous paintings, some in churches and some 
in the private palaces where they allow vis- 
itors at certain hours during the day. 

Of course, we hear all about Cristofero 
Colombo, and are dras^^^ed around throu^ih 



100 EUEOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

narrow streets and decayed houses to see 
this or that thing that had had some con- 
nection with the man that gave ns the great- 
est country in the world, and at last as the 
crowning sight we were hauled up before 
the monument the Genoese have had erected 
in the plaza before the railway station — the 
Plaza Aquaverde. It is a large and beauti- 
ful statue and has a pedestal that is covered 
with allegorical figures, representing wisdom, 
science, geography, strength, and religion. 
The statue is of marble, and Columbus leans 
on an anchor, and at the foot of the statue is 
a figure representing America waiting to be 
discovered. Between the figures mentioned 
above there are bas reliefs representing 
scenes on the voyage of Columbus. All 
around the statue are palm trees and a 
beautiful park. There is a palace almost 
opposite with marble carvings also represent- 
ing scenes from the life of Columbus. 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 101 

The streets of Genoa are very interesting, 
particularly those where you can take long 
drives. One of them leads up and around 
the fortifications, and winds among the hills 
and up and down them, and past the poor 
house which has space for 1300 persons, and 
is always full. Another leads down along 
the shore and from there the city looks its 
best. Another leads outside of the city to 
the great camphor tree gardens, we did not 
know about that until too late to go and see 
it, but it is said to be very interesting to see. 

The royal palace is a handsome building 
and it is open daily for the people to see the 
pictures and statues and the rooms, which 
are magnificently furnished. It is only while 
the royal family is absent that strangers are 
allowed to go through them. 

I remember that we took one drive back 
of the city, along a low stretch of country 
that was made very interesting by the pic- 



102 EUROPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY'S EYES. 

turesque appearance of the people. The 
ground was low and for the most part mar- 
shy, and it was here that I saw people get- 
ting peat for the first time. These peat beds 
are said to be the largest known. They 
shave off the surface of the soggy ground, 
and cut it into squares and dry it, and burn 
it instead of wood. It is said to give a clear, 
steady flame with very little smoke. It 
struck me as being an improvement on our 
way of getting fuel, as you do not have to 
mine, chop or saw this. 

The Campo Santo was just beyond these 
peat beds, and the grave-stones looked like 
so many little houses. The Campo Santo is 
the burial ground of the wealthy and distin- 
guished Genoese, and resembles Westmins- 
ter Abbey in that respect. Some of the 
sculpture on the tombs is very beautiful, but 
some of the carvings look like designs made 
and carried out by some little child. They 




55 



O 






EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 103 

are simply awful. We walked all around 
the galleries and saw all the tombs of note, 
but we felt rather depressed and disappoin- 
ted in some ways, as we had been led to 
expect wonders. Perhaps if we had known 
the histories of the people buried there we 
might have felt more interested in their 
tombs, and it is very depressing to walk 
about in a cemetery anyhow. 



CHAPTER IX. 



PISA. 



6]>R0NT0, Pronto, came from all along the 
(^f line of guards, and click, click came 
from the locks, and we moved off towards 
Pisa from Genoa. We passed through 85 
tunnels between the two cities, catching at 
times glimpses of snow- clad mountains, 
lovely valleys, and queer little towns as 
we rode along. We had stopped over night 
at Genoa, and now were on our way again. 
After nearly four miserable hours we ar- 
rived at Pisa. The Duomo and the Lean- 
ing Tower Avere plainly visible as we ap- 
proached, but on entering the city we 
soon lost sight of those two land-marks 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 105 

that have been famous so many genera- 
tions. 

As we passed through the city gates our 
belongings were examined to be sure that 
we had nothing dutiable, and as we had not 
we were allowed to go in. I wonder what 
they would have done if we had any. 

The hotel we stopped at was on the right 
bank of the Arno along which is the princi- 
pal street of Pisa. Pisa is a small but ancient^ 
city with about 38,000 inhabitants. The 
Cathedral, the Leaning Tower, and Campo 
Santo are spoken of as the great points of 
interest and to see them all tourists go, but 
I found very many more things to see that 
interested me. The old and quaint archi- 
tecture, the dark faces of the majority of the 
people, the air of being very far behind the 
times, the queer little shops, the keen, sharp 
faces of the children, and the hopeless droop- 
ing visages of the old people, and the gen- 



106 EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 

eral "take life easy" air of all others, 
were like so many living pictures to carry 
away in my mind. 

The next day after our arrival we pro- 
cured a guide, and put ourselves into his 
hands unconditionally, and let him lead us 
where he would. He took us first, as in 
duty bound, to see what is called the finest 
group of buildings in the world. The Cath- 
edral forms a Latin cross, bo'h outside and 
in. There is a platform of five steps of 
marble, and the bronze doors are most beau- 
tiful. 

As we entered the door a blind beggar 
began his pitiful wail of " meurs de faim," 
until he received some money. I tried to 
harden my heart all I could to the persist- 
ent and often impudent demands of all sorts 
of beggars, but there is something so dismal 
in the thought of a man shut in the darkness 
and holding out his hand for help that may 



EUKOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY S EYES. 107 

or may not come, and which he cannot 
seek in any other way, that if all the beg- 
gars I saw had been blind, I should have 
had to hold out my own hand too. 

The Cathedral is so cold that one feels as 
if he had got into an ice house and it chilled 
me through so that I had to leave as soon 
as I possibly could. In the Nave there is a 
large bronze lamp suspended from the ceil- 
ing, and this, the guide tells you without 
winkino:, was what o^ave Galileo the idea of 
a pendulum, and then he pokes it with a 
stick to make it swing. 

You must try and pretend to believe all 
the guide says, if you want to hear all the 
stories he tells to give new interest to the 
things he shows. I believe some of our 
guides could pick up a paving stone and 
wind such a story around it that you would 
almost get down on your knees to it with 
reverence for such a wonderful thing. Every 



108 EUEOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

inch of wall and every hole in the ground 
has some remarkable history, and the guides 
tell you all about it, and they use so many 
gestures and words that I think they must 
die young, worn out by their efforts. 

Guides are not the poorest people in these 
places by any means. They usually have 
a lot of relics to sell secretly, and they stand 
in with nearly all the storekeepers and get 
you to buy many things you really do not 
want. The guide persuades, grieves, bul- 
lies if he thinks he can, until he gets you to 
a place where there is something to sell, and 
then he gives the merchant a wink to show 
you are a "tenderfoot," and afterwards he 
gets his commission. Some of the guides 
are meek and never say no, but others dom- 
ineer, not only over the travelers, but over 
everyone around, for on the guide depends 
the liberality of the traveler, and they levy 
tribute everywhere. 



EUKOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 109 

It would be a hopeless task to try to tell 
all the beauties of the Cathedral, and we 
left there with regret, in spite of the cold 
atmosphere, and crossed over to the Baptist- 
ery, which is a wonderful structure, entirely 
of marble. It is circular, with a conical 
dome 190 feet high. I think it a finer 
thing than the Leaning Tower. The carv- 
ing is lavish and fine, and the interior is 
very imposing ; and the effect of the stained 
glass windows was very beautiful, as the 
colored lights fall upon the rich sculp- 
tures. The keeper sang for us and his 
fine voice was echoed back from a hundred 
points, making the vast dome ring with the 
music. 

The next place of interest we visited was 
the Campo Santo or burial ground. This is 
a long building Tuscan- Gothic style. In the 
middle is a large open court in which 53 
loads of holy soil from Mount Calvary were 



110 EUROPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

put, in order that the dead might repose in 
holy earth. 

The Campo Santo is filled with old sar- 
cophagi, frescoes, paintings and carvings, 
and the old chains of the harbor of Pisa are 
hung on the walls. We were led to a corner 
of the grounds from whence we could see the 
Leaning Tower, the Cathedral, and the Bap- 
tistery all in one wonderful picture, outlined 
against the deep blue sky. A visit to the 
Campo Santo, the guide said, would be very 
impressive, but we found it more curious 
and interesting than impressive. We picked 
some flowers there, and gathered up a little 
of the soil to keep. 

The Leaning Tower came next and after 
paying the entrance fee, which has to be 
paid everywhere, to see anything except the 
churches, we mounted the steps, 294 I be- 
lieve, and did not find it very difficult, as 
you feel as if you were going down part 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. Ill 

of the time. We reached the top and from 
there had a fine view of the city, its envir- 
ons, mountains, and the sea. It was worth 
climbing twice as high to see the lovely pic- 
ture spread out there before us. 

In the tower there are six bells, the heav- 
iest weio^hino^ six tons, and this hanos on the 
upper or higher side, so it could not have 
been that which caused the tower to slant 
over. The tower slants 13 feet out of the 
perpendicular. It is 179 feet high, and the 
guide told us Galileo experimented with this 
also, regarding the laws of gravitation. The 
guide never heard of Newton. 

It is thought by some that the tower 
sunk while in the course of consti'uction and 
the top was added as it is, on that account. 
It was commenced 719 years ago and finish- 
ed 543 years since. I think that some arch- 
itect did this to order for some ruler that 
wanted to have an oddity to show strangers 



112 EIJEOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

and get perpetual fees for, and if this is so 
he "builded better than he knew," for the 
sum paid in fees for 543 years must have 
amounted to a tidy sum. 

Some members of our party went to a 
sculptor's and bought some statuary, and 
we all bought some photographs, and on our 
return to the hotel we arranged our plans 
for the next morning, and decided to go on 
to Florence. 



CHAPTER X. 



FLOKENCE. 



^).Q^E passed through many tunnels on 
&>^l c) the way from Pisa to Florence, which 
made it a verv hot and dusty ride, and we 
were tired enouo^h on reachino- Florence to 
rest well that night, but to my intense de- 
light I met two of my American friends as 
we entered the dining room for dinner, and 
we sat up till nearly morning talking and 
comparing notes, for they were to leaye the 
next day. 

Florence was full of strangers, as it was 
just at the time the Queen of England was 
there, and one or two of the Indian princes, 
besides the Prince of Bulgaria. You could 



114 EUEOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

not look in any direction without seeing some 
great personage. 

The next morning I went for a drive with 
my American lady friend and we went to 
the Cascine, the fashionable promenade, and 
we enjoyed our ride greatly as Florence is a 
most beautiful city, and there are many 
things worth seeing. My friends left Flor- 
ence that afternoon for Venice, and I was 
very sorry for it feels good to meet old 
friends in strange lands. 

We took rooms at the New York Hotel, 
and were very glad to get such good ones as 
the city was so crowded, and yet 1 feel as if 
justice will not have done all she ought to 
until she gives that hotel-keeper a good 
shaking. He persuaded me to buy a dog of 
his cousin, a "real St. Bernard, the smooth- 
coated, brindled kind." They told me that 
the fat little puppy that they showed me 
was born in Switzerland, and how badly the 



EUKOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 115 

monks had felt to let him go, and how the 
race was dying out and that only the need 
of money to carry on their monastery where 
so many perishing travelers were saved and 
cared for, would force these good brothers 
to sell one; "it was like paning with a 
child," etc., and I took it all in like a dutiful 
American, and bought the pup. He was seven 
weeks old and had a knowing little face> 
and he seemed to take to me at once. I will 
not tell the trouble be made me, nor the 
tricks he played, nor the valuables he chew- 
ed up, I prefer to think of what jolly com- 
rades we became. I called him Selim, and 
got him a collar and chain. One day Charles 
and I went out and left him with the cook, 
who gave him so much to eat that he was 
nearly as round as a ball, and cried all night 
with the colic, like a baby. But I grew very 
fond of him. The hotel -keeper and his de- 
ceptive cousin said that Seliin would be as 



116 EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOy's EYES. 

bio: as a calf when he was three months old. 
I will dismiss the subject by saying that the 
dog proved to be a brindled terrier, and n^v- 
er grew much bigger but he is a thorough- 
bred of his kind. But I bought him for a 
St. Bernard and paid accordingly. I suppose 
that instead of praying for anything else in 
the way of good fortune these men just ask 
to have another fool American come along. 

Our first visit to the picture galleries was 
made the next day after our arrival and we 
went to the Ufizzi and Pitti palaces which 
were joined by a long corridor, and one can 
see them both in one day. It is said that 
Florence has one of the finest collections of 
pictures gathered in one place in the world. 

Michael Angelo, Murillo, Raphael and 
Andre de Sarto all have their finest works 
gathered here. 

The pictures are portioned off according 
to the different schools, Flemish, Italian and 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 117 

others. The tribune is the finest room in 
the Ufizzi palace, and Raphael, Titian and 
Fra Angelico have ?nade it a gem. There 
are also many choice pieces of statuary, and 
frescoes, and it is an education of the eye to 
different" lands of beauty to see them. 

The Ufizzi Palace is near the Plaza Sig- 
norie and is above the post office. Long 
halls on three sides are filled with ancient 
sculptures and paintings, one room for the 
most ancient gems of painting, another for 
old statuary, and various other things. 
From these halls are doors which lead into 
the so-called treasure chambers in which 
are the most valuable pictures. These rooms 
are generally filled with young artists who 
are vainly tr} ing to outdo the great works 
of the Masters. 

One very long passage-way connects the 
Ufizzi Palace and the Pitti, and in that are 
about 500 paintings by noted artists. The 



118 EUEOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOy's EYES. 

rooms are divided off and called after the 
names of different gods, as the Salon of 
Jupiter, Salon of Mars, etc. 

The palace is the largest ever built by a 
private family and the stones are all rugged 
on the outside, the edges where they join 
only have been smoothed. 

The reception rooms are furnished in the 
most splendid manner. From the courtyard 
extend the beautiful Boboli Gardens. On 
certain days of the week these gardens are 
open to the public, and crowds come to en- 
joy the magnificent view from these grottos, 
and fountains are everywhere. From one 
spot near the top we obtained a view of all 
the city, including the Dome, the Campanile 
of the Cathedral Palecchio and tower of the 
Budia. These grounds are so extensive that 
it takes a long time to explore all. There 
is an old amphitheatre where both public 
and private performances were given, but 



EUEOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 119 

now it is used for such solemn ceremonies 
as it is desired to have in public. 

The steps and laundry have sculptures 
such as Perseus, the head of Medusa in 
bronze, and others in marble. After we had 
seen all these we went through the narrow 
streets of the town, out on the Lungarno, 
along several bridges until we came to the 
Ponte Vecchio. This old bridge is crowded 
with small jewelry shops, much like the 
Rialto of Venice. 

It was late in the afternoon so we returned 
to the hotel, and it was suggested that we 
take a carriage the next morning and just 
see everything we could reach in one day, 
so as soon as breakfast was over we started. 
We drove by the Stuzza Palace where the 
noted bronze lamps hang and thence around 
to the Duomo and the Baptistery on which 
are the wonderful bronze doors, and from 
there we went to the Campanile and the 



120 EUKOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 

Cathedral. I could not tell anything about 
these places that has not been told hundreds 
of times better than I could tell it, and I 
shall not disgrace myself trying. 

We then went to the Palazzio del Sig- 
norina, and on to the old palace and the 
Loggia del Lanze, the Palazzio delle Utizzi, 
the National library and several other places 
of note. The Loggia del Lanze is a mag- 
nificent open vault. 

The Ufizzi palace galleries hold some of 
the most beautiful statuary and pictures in 
the world, and there is not a yard of space 
that does not show some piece of sculpture 
or painting that is worth 1he whole trip to 
see. The very roofs of the long galleries 
and the round room and the smaller rooms 
are all beautifully decorated. That is where 
the foreigners are ahead of us. Their houses 
are simply big pictures with sculptured set- 
tings. There is he^rdly any building of any 



EUKOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 121 

pretension that is not richly ornamented 
this way. There are so many beautiful 
statues around the city, and maonificent 
fountains and other works of art, that I can- 
not begin to remember them all, but they 
make Florence a beautiful city. 

When we crossed the river and came 
around on the other side, and back to the 
hotel, and after lunch ^Ye rode up the Via del 
Coli, to Piazzalo Michael Angelo,and passed 
St. Miniato. The Piazzalo Michael Angelo 
is on the top and side of one of the hills 
back of Florence and it affords a splendid 
view, and from there Florence looks as 
though it was in a cup. Fiesole and St. 
Croce are on neighboring hills on the oppo- 
site side. The country around is beautiful, 
not so grand as parts of Spain but very 
pleasing. Florence is like a picture set in 
a ejreen frame, and on a clear dav ^ ou can 
pick out towns and churches for miles 



122 EUKOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

around. There is a little restaurant up 
there where you can get a lunch that tastes 
Yery good after such a long drive. 

The next day after this trip everybody 
was expected to get up about four o'clock, 
and gather in the mall of the Cacheani and 
prepare their breakfasts on the wooden 
tables. It was " Concepcion day." Hundreds 
of men and boys went around with tiny 
cages in each of which was a cricket, which 
had been caught the night before. These 
were eagerly bought by those who had not 
caught any for themselves. The boys and 
men would poke straws down the crickets' 
nests and make them come out only to be 
caged. They were supposed to bring good 
luck to the owners. It seemed that all the 
people in Florence Avere out at half-past four, 
rich and poor, natives and strangers to laugh 
and chat and show each other their little 
black captives. 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY S EYES. 123 

It was my good fortune to see the fa- 
mous procession of flowers, and it was a 
brilliant spectacle. The city was all ex- 
citement, and the cab men doubled their 
price for that day. Peddlers charged extra 
for their wares, and the flower sellers reaped 
golden harvests. 

All the royalty were to take part in it, 
with their best carriages, each decked with 
flowers. All the people who could afford to 
hire a carriage of any kind put a few, or a 
good many flowers on horse and carriage 
and entered the procession. 

A special stand had been erected for 
the Queen of England, and all the palaces 
had their private stands for themselves 
and friends. The streets were crowded 
with spectators, and as we gazed down at 
them from our window it seemed as if 
all Italy had crowded out to see the cele- 
bration. 



124 EUROPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

We were right opposite the Stuzzi Pal- 
ace, on which are the famous lanterns, but 
the massive blocks of stone give it such a 
dreary look from the outside no one could im- 
agine that one of the oldest families in Italy 
lived there in such imperial magnificence. 

All the balconies were filled with flow- 
ers to throw at the passers, and everybody 
carried at least one bunch. As we looked 
up and down the street it seemed as if a 
luxuriant garden had suddenly sprung up, 
and it was beautiful. 

All this time carriages went hurrying to 
and fro, loaded with lovely flowers, probably 
to fall in the line of the procession. Then 
the police came along on horseback, and the 
thoroughfare was closed, and so were the 
side streets, so that the procession could 
pass. The crowds were not kept in very 
good order, but they were good natured, and 
no disturbance occurred. 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 125 

Th€^ people have a great fear of the 
police who are generally mounted, and are 
nearly all fine looking men, but what the 
police have, in the way of good looks, 
the soldiers sadly lack, for the most of 
them are little bits of fellows about four 
feet ^xe or six inches tall, and have no 
war-like air or appearance that I could 
discern. 

The procession started at last headed by 
a cab, with some lilacs on the horses' head, 
and then followed a whole string of cabs like 
the first with very few fiowers, and scarcely 
any were exchanged with the people on foot 
or in the windows. 

Then came the royal carriages with their 
gorgeous liveried footmen in white wigs. 
One of these carriao:es was covered entirely 
with lilies of the valley, from the hubs of 
the wheels to the ends of the harness, and 
on the back was the coat of arms of the 



126 EUKOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

owner who was seated in the carriage. Now 
the battle began in earnest. Flowers began 
to fly from balconies, and from the crowds, 
and the bombardment was returned from the 
carriages. One carriage was a mass of white 
roses with red ones around the sides and 
tire of the wheels. Another was covered 
with daisies. 

Behind all these finely gotten up car- 
riages were the footmen who tried to keep 
the populace from touching the flowers, but 
the crowds of boys were not afraid of the 
footmen and dodged the driver's whips and 
made sad havoc of the decorations.' Close 
carriages followed, covered with violets, 
calla lilies and roses, and some had no flow- 
ers at all, but the people in them caught 
the flowers that flew thickly through the 
air. Everybody laughed, or shouted, and 
dodged flowers or threw them, so that it 
was like a garden in the air. 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 127 

The procession turned in the square and 
came back so that there was a line o'oino- 
and coming, and as they passed each other 
more flowers flew back and forth from car- 
riage to carriage. It was a pretty sight, but 
I could not help thinking what a funny 
thing it would be in New York. 1 hardly 
think our American aristocracy would look 
right in such a procession. 

The Queen of England had a special 
stand to sit on and see the parade, and 
crowds gathered around it to catch a 
glimpse of her. Some threw flowers up 
to her, and all waited patiently in the hope 
of catchino' a flower that she mioht throw. 
There were a few fortunate enouoh to o-et 
them. 

The bands of music had been playing all 
day at the public squares, and as it grew 
late they stopped, and the people dispersed, 
leaving the street strewn with crushed flow- 



128 EUKOPE SEEN THKOUGH A boy's EYES. 

ers. The stores, and in fact all business 
was closed and we went home to rest. 

The Brothers of the Misericordia are one 
of the sights in Florence. They are all men 
usually of good family who devote their 
lives to the work of burying the dead and 
caring for the injured in any accident, or 
taking the sick to hospitals. They wear 
long, black habits and with a hood over the 
face having holes to see through, they look 
like ghosts. They carry the sick in a sort 
of basket and the dead in a coffin covered 
with a black pall, on their shoulders. One 
walks in front of them with his face uncov- 
ered. When they pass all the* people cross 
themselves and say a short prayer for the 
sick or the dead. It is said that the last 
grand Duke was a member of this brother- 
hood, and that when the cholera raged there 
he worked with the rest. Some of the poorer- 
people also join the Misericordia and the 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 129 

guide says you can tell a gentleman from a 
peasant by the feet. They do a noble and 
self-sacrificing work. 

One evenino- there was a torchlicrht re- 
view of soldiers, and a civic parade together 
in honor of the Queen of England. She was 
seated on a balcony surrounded by her suite 
and some princes and other notables. The 
parade was very fine and some of the floats 
and transparencies were very ingenious. 
There were all sorts of animals and fishes, 
and a locomotive and cars. It was beautiful 
indeed, when it passed the Duomo and front 
of the trreat Ccithedral, as the lio^hts reflected 
upon them in such a way that it looked like 
a fairy scene. 

The streets were lined with people, and 
the crowd so great that it was not possible 
to cross the street. I had been out for a 
walk with my little dog, and as the crowd 
was so dense, I was afraid he would get hurt 



130 EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 

and took him up in my arms. He was a 
very affectionate little pnppy and there was 
a lady standing close to me. Selim man- 
aged to get his nose np and licked her face, 
and she turned on me like a flash, thinking 
I had done it. I showed her the dog and 
made her understand that he did it, and she 
was madder than ever, and I seized a chance 
to get back to the hotel. 

Aunt Mary was taken quite ill with so 
much fatigue and decided to remain in Flor- 
ence while Charles and I were to go lo 
Naples and Rome and a few other places, 
and, though we went for the sake of giving 
her the quiet and rest she needed 1 felt very 
uneasy and afraid, but she was in such good 
hands that we finally overcame our scruples 
and started with the pup. 



CHAPTER XI. 



NAPLES. 



(5)>Q^E reached Naples late at night and 
S^l c) engaged rooms at the Grand Hotel 
which we supposed was near the depot, but 
it was quite a quarter of an hour's ride. We 
w^iit to bed at once, and were up the next 
morning bright and early, and I think I was 
about two hours dressing, for every minute I 
would drop everything and look out of the 
window. There was Vesuvius smoking away 
in the distance, across the water and beyond 
a sketch of green country. I cannot tell 
how strange it seemed to have geography 
come to life like that. The bay was beauti- 
ful near by and shadowy and purple in the 



132 EUKOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

distance, and the little boats with their 
wino^-like sails o^lided alono^ like birds. 

(D CD CD 

There were ships and steamers there, too, 
and when the sun rose over the distant hills 
it made them all look as if they were stand- 
ing up out of the water. The smoke from 
the volcano floated slowly on the breeze, and 
it seemed that there never could be so lovely 
a place anywhere else in the world. 

The wide Boulevard below was full of 
marine soldiers, drilling for the fete, which 
was to celebrate the coming of the Emperor 
of Germany, and in fact the whole city 
seemed full of them. 

There were many war vessels, one of the 
largest ones afloat among them. The night 
before, when we arrived they had been sur- 
veying the city by their powerful search 
lights and some of the people went nearly 
frantic with fear at first. I suppose they 
thought Vesuvius had broken forth in a new 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 133 

spot, but soon they were quieted and the 
shore was crowded with people to see the 
vfonder. 

At last I was dressed and it being Sun- 
day we went 1o church, which we were 
nearly an hour finding, for no one could or 
would tell where it was, and we finally en- 
gaged a cab for two francs, and found that it 
was less than one square away, and while 
we were baro^ainino- with the driver we were 
the center of an inquisitive and interested 
group, who watched the whole proceding 
with the greatest pleasure, if we could judge 
by their looks. 

After service we returned to the hotel 
for lunch, and found it hard to console little 
Selim for my absence. He whined and 
rolled around and tried to tell me how lone- 
some he had been, for I had left him in the 
room. He was so young that he was a lot 
of trouble but I was verv fond of him. He 



134 EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 

would not walk with a chain on if he could 
help it, but would sit down and brace him- 
self back and howl, but he had to get used 
to it, and did after a while. As soon as he 
was comfortably disposed for a nap we 
started on a long drive on the hill.^ We had 
a splendid horse and he did noble work 
climbing the hills. The road was winding, 
and very dusty, but what splendid views 
we had of the beautiful Bay of Naples, with 
all its outlying towns, Castlemarre, Sorren- 
to and others spread out like a picture. 

Every now and then we would get 
glimpses of Capri, and a far-away sight of 
the smoking mountain, which would every 
few minutes send up a succession of puffs, 
and once in a while a small shower of stones. 
The smoke would be sometimes a thin little 
line, and the next minute perhaps, there 
would be a heavy volume of black smoke. 
It fascinated me as nothino: else had. 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOy's EYES. 135 

On the summit of the ridge of hills there 
is a road which runs all along out to the end 
of the promontory, and this gives a chang- 
ing panorama of the Mediterranean and num- 
bers of small towns nestled in valleys. On 
the side farthest from Naples the hills sloped 
down to low, marshy land covered with cy- 
press trees, but there were some cultivated 
places. We could also see the Island of 
Ischia. 

The driver took us a long way and at 
last came to the so-called wonderful Grotto 
de Cannes, which was down on our list as 
one of the sights to see. We descended into 
a little valley where we were shown a list 
of prices, but we paid no attention to them 
as it was all a fraud. 

We were first shown through a curious 
low doorway into a hall, and as soon as we 
entered we became aware that the temper- 
ature had risen considerably, and we also 



136 EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 

became conscious that we were walking 
over a hollow place, and our guide took up 
a large sledge and struck the ground and it 
sounded like striking an empty wooden box. 

Fumes of sulphur came out from all over 
the floor and walls and I put my hand over 
a little hole from which fumes were coming, 
but I quickly drew it back, and blew on my 
fingers, for it was red hot. This place 
proved to be an old Roman bath, and the 
old stone beds were pointed out to us where 
the lazy Romans used to repose while tak- 
ing their hot bath. 

We explored until we began to get de- 
cidedly warm, so we went outside and were 
conducted to a little stone building and the 
guide insisted that we should enter, and 
then he told us to put our heads down, which 
we did, but drew them back together as the 
ground was highly charged with magnesian 
oxide, and it was so powerful that it would 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 137 

kill a person in a very short time. He then 
led us to the Grotto de Cannes, through a 
low door- way, but he held us back, saymg 
that we must go no further. He lit a torch 
and put it down to the ground and it was 
extinguished immediately, from the presence 
of carbonic acid gas, and pointing to the wall 
he showed us how high the gas reached by 
a black mark all around the wall as high as 
the gas mounted. He took up a bucket and 
dipped it full of this gas just as you would 
water and proved the presence of the gas by 
the fact that nothing would burn in it. A 
small dog was then dragged in, and where a 
man might stand with safety, his head above 
the gas, the dog's head was in it, and in a 
few minutes he was staggering around and 
couo^hino^. He was taken out, but after 
staggering around a little he fell as if dead, 
but he soon revived and seemed to be as 
well as ever. I put my head down into the 



138 EUKOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

gas a little, and instantly felt as though my 
breath had been checked. 

In olden times it is said that they put 
criminals in here to kill them, I wonder 
who could have built the stairway which 
leads down to the bottom. I did not care to 
explore in the hope of finding out. 

The guide took a torch and lit it and then 
wet it a little and blew it out to make smoke 
which settled on top of the carbonic acid 
gas, and it looked just like a mirror lake. 

The visit to this place gave us a greater 
desire to visit Vesuvius. As we left the 
guide to the Grotto made a demand for 
twice as much as he had agreed upon, but 
we gave him just what we had promised, 
and he shook his fist at us, and called us 
all sorts of things in Italian. 

Coming back we made arrangements to 
go to Vesuvius the next morning, and the 
driver promised to be on hand early. Re- 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 139 

turning to Naples, we went through an old 
Roman tunnel w^hich went under the hill we 
had o^one over in the mornino-. It was at 
least half a mile long, and was Ulled with 
wagons and people passing from Naples to 
and from the neiojhborino- towns. 

We hurried the next morning to get 
ready for what was, to me, the greatest trip 
I ever made: to Pompeii and Mount Vesu- 
vius. We had the same horse that we had 
had the day before and he was a good one, 
and how he did step out! 

We were not long in leaving Naples be- 
hind and we passed through several little 
fishing towns, where the people seemed to 
be doing nothing but sit around or rise 
slowly to look at us as we rode by. There 
w^ere racks all along the roadside, hung full 
of macaroni drying in the sun, and among 
these racks children played, and donkeys 
and pigs walked about as if it was a garden 



140 EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY'S EYES. 

full of weeds, instead of something people 
were to eat after. The people were dirty 
beyond my power to describe and the most 
of the men had sullen faces and the women 
were not pretty. In fact they looked 
much like the Italians we see around 
New York. 

The streets of Naples are paved with 
great blocks of hard lava, dark in color, and 
many of the houses, particularly those of 
the poorer quarters are built of lava and 
other volcanic material, fastened together 
with some kind of cement. The whole city, 
as you look back at it from a rise in the 
road looks like an amphitheater, and is more 
beautiful than words can tell. The bay 
curves in, and every wave -washed point has 
something new to show, that cannot be seen 
anywhere else. The little villages along the 
edges of the hills, are half hidden in vines 
and trees, and there are several monasteries 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 141 

looking like fortresses standing in gloomy 
stateliness on prominent places. 

It is about four miles from Naples to the 
foot of the Volcano, and we passed through 
seven or eight small hamlets before we 
reached a straight and quiet road, but there 
was a layer of fine white dust four or five 
inches thick which flew into the air in 
clouds and nearly suffocated us. Once in a 
while it would blow off" so that we could get 
a glimpse of the smoking crater. The driver 
would stop from time to time and point out 
old ruins where once had been fine homes, 
and great heaps of lava and scoria which 
looked like the coke thrown out of fire en- 
gines. 

At last we reached a little inn, where 
they have saddle horses to mount the Vol- 
cano with, and we went into the place to en- 
gage a guide. There were so many that we 
hardlv knew what to do, but finally we en- 



142 EUEOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

gaged one to take us through the ruins of 
Pompeii, as we were told that we would have 
time to visit that place before dinner. So 
we bought our tickets and started for the 
buried city, which is now being slowly dug 
out of the earth where it has been hidden so 
many years. Our guide was a Spaniard who 
had lived in America for some time, and he 
took advantage of that fact to charge us 
about double for his services. 

We entered Pompeii by the Marine Gate, 
which is the gate that led out of the city to 
the seashore where the ancients used to 
take their boats. Pompeii was a walled city 
and now nearly all the wall has been traced. 
Entering the Marine Grate we went first to 
the MusQum where they have collected all 
the things that have been found during the 
excavations. There were things truly won- 
derful. There were loaves of bread that 
had been found in an oven that had been 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 143 

sealed up by dried mud and lava all these 
centuries. There were raisins and all sorts 
of dried fruit and pretty dry, too, and ker- 
nels of wheat, and there were any amount 
of lamps of every description, from clay to 
silver and bronze, and there were many ex- 
quisitely formed vases, of every size, kitchen 
utensils, a portable stove, statues and some 
mural paintings, glass ware, swords, helmets, 
candle-sticks, toilet ornaments and curious 
jewelry. There were old doors and hinges, 
keys, plates, spoons, and in fact everything 
that was used in those days, even down to 
*' stick pins," and needles. 

This Museum was originally built for a 
temple to Mercury, and must have been very 
handsome. There is no roof now to cover it. 

There were some gruesome things, too, 
a number of bodies, among them a mother 
and daughter, as it is supposed, as they were 
found dead together. There was a negro 



144 EUKOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

and a poor dog who had been chained and 
had evidently died in great agony. There 
was another man who is supposed to have 
been drunken at the time he died, as his 
features are calm as if he had been asleep. 
Another was doubtless a prisoner as there 
was an iron band around his waist and a 
chain. These were not the real bodies, but 
plaster casts made by pouring liquid plaster 
into the mould that had formed around the 
bodies of the melted lava and mud that had 
surrounded them, and that way every feature 
is preserved exactly. Even the texture of 
the clothes they wore is shown. 

There were many other very interesting 
things in the Museum but we could not stay 
there longer. Of course pots and pans are 
in themselves not so very interesting but 
when you think of the awful catastrophe 
that buried these so long ago, and that they 
are being now slowly and painfully brought 




o 

CI- 



^ 

Ij 

a 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 145 

to light, and that they show us plainer than 
books how the people lived in those days, 
why every one is interesting, and if you 
look at the plainest one of all you begin to 
think about the unhappy people who once 
used it. 

The next things pointed out were the 
deep ruts in the pavements which had been 
worn in the old days by chariot wheels 
and they looked as if they were done yes- 
terday. There were stepping stones across 
each street which were arranged so as to 
allow a chariot to pass between them and 
yet be near enough for people to step across 
without wetting their feet. 

We passed up what is called the main 
street, where the sliding doors proved that 
these had been stores at one time. In front 
of every store there was a loop hole cut in 
the curbstone, so that purchasers could hitch 
their horses. 



146 EUROPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

. We entered the vestibule of one house 
which was very well preserved. The court- 
yard opened from the vestibule and there 
was a small fountain in the center and right 
near the vestibule was a small, square foun- 
tain to carry away the rain water. A bust 
of the owner of this house was set on a ped- 
estal, at one side, and on the stumps of arms 
the visitors hung their coats, and put their 
hats on the head. The house was that of 
Cornelio RufFo — the roof was gone, but all 
the rooms with their walls could be traced. 
At the rain-water basin were two beautiful 
carvings, like tables, nearly perfect. It was 
a large house. 

The bed-rooms, kitchen and other apart- 
ments all opened around the court, and 
nearly all of these rooms were in a good 
state of preservation. Some of the houses, 
and in fact most of them have been beauti- 
fully decorated, by paintings which have 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 147 

been applied directly on the thick plastering, 
and the colors are rich and as bright to-day 
as when put on. In many houses there were 
fine mosaic pictures, and there was a large 
mural painting representing a battle. One 
house had a magnificent fire-place made of 
beautiful stones, each of a different color, 
that is on one side. The other side 
matched, so that there were two stones of 
each color. 

We next visited the bakery where the 
bread was found. Everything remained just 
as it was in the days of old, except that the 
bread was in the Museum. There were sev- 
eral great jars where the bread was once 
mixed and three big mills where the wheat 
was groimd, besides several other objects. 
The oven had an arched door, and I think is 
nearly the same as the ovens now used in 
bakeries. There is no roof to this bakery 
and at the farther end you see the surface 



148 EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 

of the earth ten or twelve feet thick above 
it, with good- sized trees growing. 

We next visited the prison and there fas- 
tened to the wall with a heavy chain was the 
shrunken body 'of a poor man, who unable 
to escape had died apparently in dreadful 
agony. There was little left of him but dried 
up flesh and bones. We left this place with 
great relief and next saw the plunge bath, 
which was in a small building very well 
preserved, and the floor was laid in fine 
mosaic work. 

We also went to see the public baths, 
which are nearly well enough preserved to 
use now. These are near the Forum and 
are very well arranged, very large and beau- 
tifully decorated. I do not believe there 
are any public baths in the world as hand- 
some and large as these. They take up one 
whole block, over a hundred and fifty feet 
wide and nearly two hundred feet deep. 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 149 

There are three divisions, one was for the fire 
and servants, and the others were for men and 
women. There was steam, and cold and hot 
water besides. In the furnace room they 
found pitch, and at the door of the main en- 
trance they found a box of money and a 
sword, w^hich the doorkeeper probably left 
in trying to escape. There are copper boil- 
ers between the men and women's compart- 
ments, and in the dressing room the pegs 
burned out and left the holes where the 
wooden pegs had been to hang clothes on. 
There are seats here cut out of lava, which it 
seems must have been handy building ma- 
terial when Pompeii was built. This room 
had had a glass roof, a passage led into 
the cold room, which had a bath tub of 
marble as big as an ordinary room and about 
three feet deep. There is one large room 
called the Tepidarium, with a large bronze 
brazier and a bench or so. The floors are 



150 EUKOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

tiled, and the walls were arched and beauti- 
fully decorated with high relief stucco fig- 
ures, and all richly colored. This was a 
warm but not hot room and was to prepare 
the bathers for the hot air or steam rooms. 
The steam room and the hot room are both 
beautifully decorated and are fairly well 
preserved, but the women's baths which are 
smaller are nearly in ruins. The water for 
these baths came from a reservoir across the 
street. 

It would need but little work or expense 
to put part of these baths into working 
order and it is a pity that it is not done for 
the benefit of the men and women who work 
in these ruins. 

The Forum or public market place was 
next on the programme. Here, nothing re- 
mained but a line of broken columns, and 
occasionally an altar where sacrifices had 
been made, and one place was a temple 



EUKOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 151 

where it was supposed an oracle spoke to 
the people while it was really a man who 
did so from a convenient place inside. 

We finally came to the lower gate of the 
city where the most of the bodies had been 
found. They had tried to get out but the 
smoke and cinders had suffocated them. 
There was a small fountain near here in 
what had evidently been a business street, 
and the guide called our attention to the 
places that had been worn away by the 
hands of the people who had drank at this 
fountain. The left hand had left the deep- 
est impression. 

We mounted a little rise of ground that 
is undoubtedly the covering of another 
house, and from there we had a splendid 
view of the whole city as far as it is laid 
bare. From here we could see the Gate of 
Herculaneum with the beautiful tomb be. 
yond, and the ruins of several buildings out- 



152 EUKOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 

side of the walls. Near by was what they 
call the House of the Musicians and of the 
Yestals. There are a number of houses 
built on the sloping rocks where the sea 
once came, and some of these houses are 
three stories high. The streets seem nearly 
all to converge into the Forum, but yet 
they are laid out in blocks. One house I 
remember was called the house of the sur- 
geon because many bronze and steel sur- 
gical instruments were found there. The 
Forum is about four or five hundred yards 
from the Gate of Herculaneum. On the 
west side the streets run down towards 
the bay, and all the houses uncovered on 
those streets are public buildings. It 
seems that houses had mural paintings that 
represented the business the owner fol- 
lowed, one is called the house of the hunter, 
another silversmith, another a dyer's, and 
so on. 



EUKOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 153 

In the Forum place there is an arch and 
at the opening of another street is another 
triumphal arch, not so well preserved as the 
first. There was a milk store or dairy in 
one house, and one fine one was the school 
of Gladiators. There is one place called 
the quarter of theaters. In that are the 
Temple of Hercules, the Temple of Isis, the 
Temple of JEsculapius, and the two theaters 
I mentioned before, and also a large open 
space enclosed by two porticos. Probably 
this was the ball ground. 

About ^ye or six hundred feet from there 
in the southeast corner lies the amphitheatre, 
which presents a fine view, with a fringe of 
great trees at the top of the eastern side, and 
with the burning mountain for a background. 

There is quite a large space that is not 
yet excavated that is now covered over with 
vines and trees and shrubbery. Only about 
one-eio^hth of the whole has been excavated, 



154 EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 

and as far as they could tell they tried to 
get at the wealthiest people's houses. It 
was twelve miles around and now six gates 
and twelve towers have been found. It must 
have been a beautiful city, though not so 
very large, and what we have in the way of 
furniture to show our wealth these ancients 
put into the durable decorations of their 
homes which has lasted to show us how 
they lived in those old days. 

The excavations are carried on with great 
system, men go ahead into each street and 
dig, and each basketful of dirt or ashes is 
sifted for valuables and women take the 
shell- shaped baskets on their heads and 
walk off with them as stately as a queen 
with a heavy crown. Often a statue is found, 
or a bag of coins, or some household imple- 
ment. Everything that is rescued from the 
ashes of the past is valuable, and the bosses 
keep such a close lookout that it has to be 



EUEOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 155 

a smarter tourist than I to get a chance to 
buy one. 

When one stands on the hill and looks 
around at the half buried city, and notes the 
long rows of broken columns and crumbled 
walls, at the sea shining there and then at 
Vesuvius so near by, it makes one shudder 
to think that at any moment a great tidal 
wave could dash in, or a new convulsion 
bury the whole in an hour beneath a new 
weight of lava. 

We got our money's worth out of that 
guide for we went everywhere, into every 
place we could crawl, and asked him ques- 
tions until he looked as though he would 
drop, and as we were getting hungry any- 
how, we went back to the little inn for our 
dinner, which was unmentionable, but we 
had to eat it or starve. 



CHAPTER XII. 



VESUVIUS. 



kURINGr our dinner at the little mn we 
^Od had the satisfaction of hearing some 
fine music played by some Italians on a 
mandolin and guitar, and watched the smoke 
curl majestically up and sail away from the 
mouth of the grim monster beyond, and as 
soon as we had finished we got ready to 
make the ascent of the mountain of fire. 

Charles always had bad luck with horses. 
If there ever was one old nag more decrepit 
or lazy or vicious than another he somehow 
chose it ; not that he did it on purpose, for 
he tried his best to get good ones and he 
certainly paid for the best, but just as soon 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 157 

as we would get well under way the wretched 
brute would show his tactics, and it was 
usually too late to turn back, and if he did 
get another, that too, would do something, 
from standing still, or lying down to kicking 
or trying to bite. This time Charles got one 
that would jump stiff-legged every time he 
was struck, and if he wasn't struck he 
wouldn't move at all. But, after much ar- 
gument on the part of the guide, which was 
mostly done with a stick, the miserable 
beast consented to follow my horse about 
three or four yards behind, which made it 
unpleasant, for the dust was so light and 
fine that every time the horse's hoofs struck 
the ground clouds would rise and bid fair to 
choke Charles. If it had only been fresh 
dust I don't think it would have been so 
bad, but this was the dust of ages, and we 
both regretted that we didn't wear veils. 
The road was narrow and the sun was hot 



158 EUEOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

and it was altogether a most uncomfortable 
ride. 

After two miles of this we stopped at an 
inn to give our horses a rest, and it was then 
that we discovered that a barefooted boy had 
run with us all the way for the sake of earn- 
ing a little money holding our horses. He 
had held on to the tail of Charles's horse the 
whole w^ay. He grinned so that his white 
teeth showed through the dust on his face 
like pearls in an oyster and his black eyes 
looked so jolly that no one could have re- 
fused him. He gave the horses a drink and 
wiped the dust out of their eyes and noses, 
and as we had rested for about fifteen 
minutes and had a cool drink ourselves we 
were ready to start on. 

The ascent began gradually along a plain 
where two specks were visible, and as we 
galloped on they grew in size until we saw 
that one was a monk and the other a boy 



EUKOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY'S EYES. 159 

guide. We soon left them behind and be- 
gan our ascent through the slippery lava. 
These rows of hiva lay on every side and 
some were warm, while other places were 
cold. We kept climbing up and up until we 
came to a little corral made of pieces of 
lava, and there we left our horses and started 
up on foot. A couple of men handed us 
some ropes to take hold of, but we found it 
easier to climb without beino- draooed alono- 
and so dismissed them and started like 
braves on a warpath. 

Charles stopped after a while to take the 
view but the guide and I kept on, thinking 
that he would overtake us in a few minutes, 
but somehow he missed the right path and 
went in a direction that would have taken 
him to a very dangerous place, if he had 
kept on. He was for a short time completely 
lost, and when we found that he did not 
follow us we decided that it was best to sit 



160 EUKOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

down and wait, and we whistled and called, 
but we were looking down the path by 
which we had come, when imagine our sur- 
prise to see him come slipping and springing 
over the lava, which was loose in most 
parts and had not been cleared away to 
make a path. It was with the greatest diffi- 
culty that he reached us, all out of breath. 

The lava crust looked like huge mis- 
shapen monsters lying huddled asleep. It 
had flowed on and cooled in waves and 
billows, and was full of crevices and treach- 
erous spots. As we started up again the 
ground began to feel hot under our feet, and 
fumes of sulphur came from the crevices. 

A little further on we reached what we 
thought was the top but it was not and we 
found there was another hill ahead. Just 
a little beyond us was a fat man trying to 
reach the top. He would slip and flounder 
and every few minutes he would stop to wipe 







> 

O 






EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 161 

his red face, and swear at the guide for mak- 
ing him believe that it was nothing to climb 
up here. We slipped and grappled with 
each other and the guide as the loose bits 
of sulphur and lava slid from under our feet, 
but at last we reached the summit of the 
crater, and at the same moment got a puff of 
sulphur smoke that nearly took our breath 
away. 

When we could see, we found we were 
on the crest of the rim of the Volcano. 
Hundreds of feet below us there was an 
abyss, from which the flames and smoke 
were coming. I cannot describe that hole. 
It was such a surprise to me. Charles 
thought it would look like a Christmas pud- 
ding with the steam coming out of the top, 
but it proved to be entirely different, and 
was a deep hole with sulphur fumes coming 
up in great clouds, and once in a while a 
burst of smoke and ashes and stones. 



162 EUKOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

We struggled around, away over to the 
far side, where the fumes nearly choked us. 
We wedged some great stones loose and 
sent them rolling down into the crater, and 
as they went they dislodged and carried 
hundreds of smaller ones along, all bouncing 
up and down and leaving a cloud of dust be- 
hind. I had to laugh to see these little ones 
go following the big one along, like the New 
York gamins after a gorgeous drum major. 

We went around to the other side where 
were great fissures in the rocks and steam 
and sulphur smoke were coming out in 
volumes, and there was another vein in 
which hot lava was coursing and it soimded 
like running water. 

In another place we put our hands over 
a little hole to see if it was hot. It was. 
The ground under us was in constant com- 
motion and trembled and rumbled, and all 
over were crevices and fissures emitting 



EUKOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 1C3 

fumes and steam, and we could plainly hear 
the roar of burning lava. In the old crater 
down below, the lava was red hot and flow- 
ing down slowly. 

We returned to the other side, where 
there was a small party gathered together, 
and one of the old guides was trying to loosen 
a monstrous stone from its bed and send it 
down the crater. He was doing this at the 
risk of his own life, for if the earth under 
him gave way, and he was standing on a 
small projection of rock, he would have been 
dashed to pieces on the rocks below. 

At last he got it loose and the rock be- 
gan to slide. He had barely time to jump 
up and grasp the hand of another guide be- 
fore the whole piece he was standing on be- 
gan to slide and went down with a roar. 
The stone struck another projection of rock 
and flew into a thousand pieces, which were 
swallowed in the dark mouth of the crater. 



164 EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 

The oruide then went around with his hat 

C5 

for the people to give him something which 
we all did willingly, except the fat man who 
reluctantly gave him five centimes (one 
penny), and that caused the guide to give 
him such a look of unspeakable disgust that 
we all laughed. 

After that we amused ourselves by pick- 
ing up curious bits of sulphur and lava, and 
examining fissures to find out if they were 
hot by holding our hands over them, until we 
were quite satisfied that they were. 

Once there was an awful roar and rumble 
and smoke belched forth in great force and 
frightened all of us, but the guides say that 
was nothing unusual, and that often the 
sides of the crater get red hot and stones are 
thrown great distances through the air and 
roll down the mountain side where they 
gather in heaps. 

One feels creepy when standing on the 




t3 



X 

K 



O 



EUKOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 165 

top of that crater, and hears the lava sim- 
mering under him, and feels the heat and 
listens to the hollow sound which comes 
from some of the fissures. The guides told 
us that after every new eruption the shape 
of the crater changes, and that makes it 
very dangerous. It is only recently that the 
Volcano has been photographed and on 
returning to Naples I got several very fine 
photographs of this wonderful mountain. 

It is curious but I have not found any- 
one who ever noticed the surrounding scen- 
ery when making the ascent or descent of 
Vesuvius, and I suppose this is because it 
needs all one's faculties to keep from slip- 
ping until one gets to the top and then no 
one can think of an v thins: but this outlet of 
internal fires. These fires are liable to break 
out again at any hour, and be just as de- 
structive as before, and no one can tell 
which side the lava will run out from. 



166 EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 

Naples itself is said to be built over two 
extinct volcanos, and if we can judge by the 
Grotto de Cannes it is so, and they are not 
dead but only asleep. Let us hope they will 
never awake. 

As it was now nearly sundown we started 
back to Naples. For a little way it was not 
easy traveling as the stones and sulphur 
slipped, and that way it was nearly impos- 
sible to keep one's feet, but when we reached 
a place where there was a thin layer of ashes 
we fairly slid down like rockets. We could 
not stop until we reached a level place cov- 
ered with ashes, but a little relieved to feel 
that we were safe and unhurt. We were 
completely out of breath when we reached a 
level landing, and sat down to rest. 

Here the guide called our attention to 
the view, and it was indeed beautiful. The 
whole bay was in plain sight with its 
thirty miles of coast spread out before us. 



EUKOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 167 

There lay Naples in the distance, the win- 
dows gleaming in the sun's last rays, Sor- 
rento and Castlemarre and dozens of small 
towns were in plain sight, and the lovely 
island of Capri made a grand showing in the 
late shadows of sunset. The white roads 
running along the coast or leading towards 
the interior were plainly visible and the 
ruins of Pompeii were almost at our feet. It 
was a sio:ht never to be foro-otten. 

The guide and I started on alone again, 
leaving Charles to sit on a lump of lava and 
ponder. Charles is one of those whose souls 
are full of admiration for the beauties of 
Nature, and it seemed as if he could never 
bear to tear himself away from a position 
where he had a noble view like this. He 
would appear to be in a happy sort of trance 
nnd it was always with difficulty that he 
could tear his eyes away from it, and bring 
his mind back to the everyday things. A 



168 EUKOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 

nobler, more high-minded, and lovable man 
I never met, and while we were together I 
learned to feel a friendship for him that 
I am sure will last forever. Perhaps I 
am not old enough to feel so deeply, but 
I think I cared all the more for him seeing 
how completely he would become lost to 
everything but the beauty and grandeur of 
the things we saw. 

The guide and I took arms and went 
downward again, slipping, struggling, and 
sliding, and always at the risk of rolling 
completely over, and when we reached an- 
other comparatively level space we sat down 
and shouted to Charles to come, or it would 
be dark. He roused and started ; but, as it 
needs two or more together, to support and 
sustain each other, he slipped and floundered 
and tumbled along in such a fashion that he 
looked to be all arms and legs. I was thank- 
ful that no one was about with a camera 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 169 

when I came down, as I am noted for the 
length of my own legs and arms, as they are 
long and not broad. It must have been fun- 
ny. Charles soon reached us and we moun- 
ted on our prancing steeds, which were more 
willing to go down than they had been to 
come up. They picked -their way carefully 
over the loose stones and lava, and I expec- 
ted every minute to go headlong, but we at 
last reached a line of smoother ground cov- 
ered with ashes, and then it was not so bad. 
We could see little specks below which 
proved to be people on horseback when we 
drew near. 

On our route we passed a place where 
men were at work making preparations for 
the Emperor of Germany, who was to visit 
the mountain in a few days. They were 
building a booth and fixing it up for a 
special dining room, I think. 

We stopped at the inn only long enough 



170 EUROPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY'S EYES. 

to change our horses for the carriage which 
was waiting, and asked for water. This 
was brought, and just as we were going to 
drink I noticed several specks, and as I 
looked closer I found it was full of little 
white insects, and goodness knows what 
else, and they were swimming around at a 
lively rate. I handed the glass back and 
so did Charles, saying that we had asked 
for drinking water, not an aquarium. How 
many we had drank in the morning in our 
pink lemonade I do not know. The men 
looked surprised when we handed back the 
water and told us that it was fine water, 
that it was perfectly pure and good. May- 
be it was, but we liked our fishes cooked. 

When we returned to Naples that even- 
in o^ dinner was about half over, but we did 
justice to the remainder. There were a 
number of men there who were full of fun. 
and they were singing the donkey song, in 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 171 

which one sings the song and all the rest 
join in the chorus braying like donkeys. It 
was very funny, at first, but they kept it up 
until nearly morning. We were very tired, 
but it seemed as if my mind was so full of 
the wonderful sights we had crowded into 
one day that 1 could never sleep again. If 
I did drop off for a moment I would wake 
with a start thinkino^ I was fallino^ into the 
great red crater, or that ashes and burning 
lava were pursuing me among the ruins of 
Pompeii ; but I was and always shall be 
glad that I had seen those two great sights. 
It is one thing to go through even the great- 
est edifices and see the most wonderful 
things men ever did, and quite another to 
see the power of God, as shown at Pompeii 
and Vesuvius. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

NAPLES AND CAPEI. 

HE morning following our visit to Pom- 
^u^ peii and Vesuvius we felt tired and 
lame, but every time we lifted our eyes to 
the smoking peak we were thankful that we 
had been up there. 

We went to see the Aquarium which is 
well worth seeing. It has a very fine col- 
lection offish of almost every known spe- 
cies, among them some cuttle-fish. The 
keeper tied a poor little crab on a string and 
let it down into the tank near one of them. 
There was a rush and a twinino; of lono: arms 
and the crab was gone. The octopus creep 
along so smoothly that you can hardly see 



EUEOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 173 

them move, their long arms reaching out in 
all directions for prey. Their eyes are cold 
and evil, and it makes one shudder to see 
them. There were a number of squids in 
one tank, and it had been a habit to poke 
sticks at them to see them emit the inky 
fluid, but it seems that the Emperor had 
requested that that should not be done any 
more as he thought it cruel, and we did not 
see the performance. 

It would take a book full to describe all 
the curious fish and other wonders of the 
deep in this Aquarium. It is said to be the 
most complete in the world and 1 do not 
doubt it. I have always been an eager lov- 
er of natural history and I could hardly tear 
myself away, but we had many other things 
to see. 

We went from there to the National 
Museum where there was a large collection 
of things from Pompeii, but they were nearly 



174 EUEOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY'S EYES. 

all of the same class as those shown in the 
museum at Pompeii: such as lamps, candle- 
sticks, vases and plaster casts. There was 
one fine piece of mosaic, representing a fe- 
rocious dog chained, and with the words 
Cave canem also in mosaic. 

There were also many pieces of old ar- 
mor and arms, and relics of various kinds, 
such as you will see in almost any museum, 
but the things that most interested me were 
those from Pompeii. 

After we had seen all that was in the 
museum we went and made a few purchases, 
chiefly photographs, and walked around to 
see the different parts of the city, which 
we found very interesting, particularly the 
older part, and where the poor live. 

We often hear how hard the poor for- 
eigners have to work and how little they, 
are paid. I know they are not paid much, 
but I didn't see anybody working as the peo- 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 175 

pie do in America. Here it was a lazy sor 
of movement with much lounging and many 
rests. If anyone in Naples worked as hard 
and continually as they do in New York, 
such a person would surely get rich in a short 
time even at the pay offered at Naples, for 
living is so very cheap for those who are 
content with poverty. Macaroni with a 
sauce of tomatoes and fried onions forms the 
chief of their diet, with once in a while a 
little fish or fruit, and that doesn't cost much. 

On our return to the hotel we made plans 
to go to Capri, and then take a boat to Sor- 
rento, and drive from there to Castlemarre. 
We retired early and rested well, and were 
up early to start. We took the boat which 
crosses the bay to Capri, and were about an 
hour and a half crossing, and it was a de- 
lightful trip. 

There were men who sang all the way to 
stringed instruments, and they knew only 



176 EUEOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY'S EYES. 

three son^s, and these they repeated over and 
over until I learned them by heart. They 
were Finaculi-Finacnla, Belle Napoli, and 
Marguerite ; not the Marguerite sung here, 
but one much sweeter I think. 

Capri seen from a distance looks like a 
great barren rock, but as you approach it 
shows greener and fresher, and when close 
to it you find that it is wonderfully fertile. 
We landed in a small cove, which swarmed 
with small boats whose owners seemed to 
exist for the sole purpose of taking travelers 
to see the blue grotto. We were soon on 
the way to this famous place, and ducked 
our heads obediently, to raise them again at 
the word of command after having traversed 
the low entrance. We raised our eyes to 
find ourselves in fairyland, and the farther 
you go the more beautiful it is. 

From some cause or other the light re- 
flects from the water on the rocks above 



EUEOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 177 

and gives them a rich, deep blue tint, that 
is light or dark as the shadows fall. The 
eifeet was as if the whole cave was made of 
one big broken sapphire. The oars as they 
dipped in the water looked like bright sil- 
ver, and a little boy plunged in the water 
to swim and looked like a silver image come 
to life. We were not allowed to remain long 
here as the steamer was ready to go, and so 
we regretfully left this beautiful blue won- 
der, and hastened on board, and were soon 
on the way to the town of Capri, near the 
middle of the island. 

About dinner-time we landed at Capri 
and went to the hotel for dinner, and it was 
there I first tasted nespoli, a delicious fruit 
something like a plum, but with three or 
four large seeds and a thick skin. I think 
it would be a success if introduced into this 
country. 

I won't dwell upon that dinner but the 



178 EUROPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY'S EYES. 

drive we took after was worth mention. We 
took a carriage and went up to the top of the 
island which is like a promontory and is 
covered everywhere with vines and fruits. 
There are steps cut in the rock up which the 
people toil, the women with baskets of fish 
or other things on their heads. They take 
those long stairs as though it was nothing, 
and did not act as though they felt the climb. 

The view from this high point is enchant- 
ing. The City of Naples and curve of the 
bay is seen from a new point, and show 
new beauties everywhere, and Old Vesuvius 
stands with a new outline but always inter- 
esting. 

We drove over to Anti- Capri, and turned 
around and went to a small village on the 
other side. What a queer, quaint little place 
it was ! The houses were mostly low and 
poor, but the luxuriance of the trees and 
flowers, fruit and vines made up for any lack. 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 179 

and it looked calm and peaceful here. I 
wondered what these people would do if a 
string of boys and men were to file down one 
of their funny little streets shouting, " Hux- 
tra ! Huxtra ! all about the great railway dis- 
aster !" Charles went down one street to 
make some purchases, and I bought some 
nespoli of a girl. I told her as best I could, 
but she gave me twice us much as I had asked 
for, about two cents' worth, and 1 gave her 
the money and walked off regardless of her 
blank face. I felt happy to think that I had 
for once got the best of a bargain, with an 
Italian. 

Our time was short as the boat for Sor- 
rento was about to start, and we scrambled 
down to the landing with considerable difii- 
culty. From where we had been we could 
see Capri below us, the steamer and all that 
was o'oino' on down there, and a busy scene 
it was. We caught the boat, and soon Cap- 



180 EUEOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

Ti became a rock again, this time behind us, 
and Sorrento lay before. We were taken 
ashore by small boats, and when we landed 
we engaged a carriage to take ns to Castle - 
marre, but we found we would have to walk 
to the top of the hill to get it, and that hill 
was a long one, but we reached the top at 
last and were soon comfortably seated in a 
small carriage drawn by two horses. 

As we drove through the streets of Sor- 
rento we found that we were objects of curi- 
osity, particularly to the ladies who were 
seated in the balconies. The most of these 
ladies were very handsome with large dark 
eyes and hair. 

The roads further on were lined with 
orange and lemon trees, and we hailed a 
small boy who had his arms full and bought, 
all he had for fifty centimes (ten cents), and 
they were fresh and tasted good, as we were 
thirsty and the road dusty and the day hot. 



EUROPE SEEN THBOUGH A BOY*S EYES. 181 

The road wound in and out, between farms, 
gardens, and trees, and crossed deep ravines 
where we could look down and see boats mov- 
ing to and fro, and at times catch glimpses 
of the ever beautiful bay, or of Vesuvius, 
which always seemed to step into the land- 
scape from whatever point with its charm 
of ^terribleness. Sometimes we saw the 
smoking point from between trees, some- 
times from between houses, over rocks or 
fi'om the water, or across it — always the 
same and always changing. I hope I may 
never forget the pictures 1 have seen of that 
volcano as long as I may live. Some of 
these little glimpses seen through interven- 
ing trees were worth a hundred trips to Eu- 
rope ; but I couldn't help wishing that there 
might be a little eruption that wouldn't hurt 
anything, that I might see at a safe distance 
before I left. 

We reached Castlemarre which is a pret- 



182 EUKOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

ty city, as also is Sorrento, but we had not 
time for a very long study of its beauties as 
we had to take the train back to Naples. 

The train started and we were soon mov- 
ing through the little fishing villages along 
the coast, where the men were building- 
boats or mending nets.. The streets were so 
narrow that it was impossible to see down 
through them. We brought the rest of the 
oranges that we had bought, and at every 
station there was a crowd of beggars, all 
crying out that they were hungry. Just as 
we were pulling out of one station I threw 
an orange to one fellow who was wailing out 
his woes loudly, and it hit him directly in 
the mouth and hit him hard, though I did 
not intend to hurt him. I was glad the train 
was moving. 

It was not long before we reached Naples 
and we brought splendid appetites along. 
When I entered my room at the hotel a most 




H 

CO 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 183 

surprising sight met my gaze, for there all 
over my floor was a perfect billow of white 
lace. I could not imagine w^here it came 
from, until I saw Selim, the dog, all curled 
up on the remains of the lace window cur- 
tain. As soon as he saw that I was mad he 
looked up at me with such a droll and guilty 
expression that I had to laugh instead of 
whipping him as he deserved. 

I gathered up the pieces and twisted the 
curtain up so that the torn places w^ere not 
so noticeable, and during it all he watched 
me with the keenest interest, thinking, I 
suppose, that he would pull it all down and 
chew it up again if I went off another time 
and left him all day alone. 

The next morning w^e took a cab and soon 
stood upon the platform of the railway sta- 
tion. It was all decked with flags and rich 
curtains and other things to make it look 
attractive, as the Emperor of Germany was 



184 EUEOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 

to arrive soon. We had our tickets for Rome 
and on the way passed the train bearing the 
Emperor of Germany. All of the stations 
along the route were decked with flags and 
flowers, and crowds of people were waiting 
his arrival. Soon we were out of sight of 
Naples and had caught our last glimpse of 
Vesuvius and were looking forward to Rome. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



ROME. 



'Gj'E arrived at Rome about three o'clock 
5^^c) that afternoon, after a very pleasant 
ride through a country made familiar by 
much study of geography and history at 
home and of the guide-book abroad. 

As soon as we arrived we went to a hotel 
and after a good wash and dinner we started 
out to see the sights, and drove to the prin- 
cipal places. We left the Piazza Spagna and 
drove along the Corso, which is the princi- 
pal street and on to the Piazza Yenezia, and 
past the old Forum Trajano, and down the 
Via Bonello to the Forum Romanum, past 
the famous Colosseum and then around to 



186 EUEOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

the principal cliurches, and after that up to 
the Capitoline Hill, and back to the hotel. 
This ride took up all the afternoon and we 
thought we had done very well for so short 
a time, as we had got the plan of the great, 
city and all its wonders fixed in our minds. 
The next morning we started early and went 
back to the Colosseum, which is indeed a 
great sight. The enormous size of the place 
and the remembrance of what it was for made 
it doubly interesting. There are four stories 
or tiers on one side, the outer portion of 
which is in good preservation. The other 
side seems to have been partly demolished 
and carried away. All around it are great 
fragments of stone, broken columns, and 
crumbled walls of other buildings now for- 
gotten. The Arch of Titus stands at one 
side, and that of Constantino near by, both 
of them showing what the pomps and vani- 
ties of this world come to. 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOy's EYES. 187 

We mounted the great stone steps inside 
the Colosseum and soon were at the top 
and looking down on the great Arena. The 
tiers upon tiers of seats once filled with 
shouting people now serve for nesting places 
for flocks of little birds, and all over the 
walls are holes worn in by the elements, 
though our guide declared it was caused by 
the people taking the iron out for balls, at 
one time in the history of Rome. But the 
holes are there, so many that it is fairly 
honeycombed. The floor of the Colosseum 
or Arena has been partially uncovered so 
that one may see the dungeons below where 
the wild beasts were kept, and also places 
where the unfortunate prisoners were con- 
fined until it pleased those in power to get 
up a celebration luid bring them out to be 
torn to pieces in the Arena. Down in that 
excavation the cells were built in regular 
streets with thick walls to the dunoeons. 



188 EUKOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 

No escape was possible. The whole of the 
place has not been excavated, and that part 
left to show the form of the old Arena is 
smooth, and railed off so no one can fall 
down into the pits. All aronnd the Arena 
and below the first tier of seats there 
were small rooms which doubtless held 
animals, as they are strong and massive. 
Nature has been kinder to the Amphithea- 
tre at Pompeii than to the Colosseum in 
Rome. 

Just outside of this great place we stop- 
ped to admire the surroundings, which are 
of the greatest interest. The massive Arch 
of Constantino is a work of art, covered as 
it is with carving in relief relating to his ex- 
ploits. The Arch of Titus is not so highly 
ornamented but it has several points where 
there are fine carved fio^ures in hio^h relief. 
They relate to his achievements, and repre- 
sent, I think, triumphal processions, and 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 189 

there is an inscription showing the date and 
for whom it was erected. 

Near by the Colosseum are the crumb- 
ling remains of the Gladiators' Fountain, 
where they used to stop for good luck and 
wash before going to fight. There is a con- 
ical stone pillar from which the water flowed, 
and the remains of the circular basin. 

After havino; examined the Colosseum 
from one end to the other and viewed these 
two arches from every side, we went to the 
Roman Forum or rather the place where it 
was once. I would like to tell all about this 
Forum, what it was for and who had stood 
here in time long past, but I refrain, for I 
suppose it would be telling people what they 
knew long ago, and I suppose the most of 
those who have not been there have seen 
pictures of what it looks like now, but it 
was very new to me. There are a few col- 
umns still standing, but the most of those 



190 EUROPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

that once enclosed this vast court are gone. 
There is one large fluted column set upon a 
stone foundation which was doubtless some 
sort of monument. In every direction there 
are fragments which show what this place 
must have been "in the brave days of old.'* 
It is surrounded by fine buildings, and with- 
in the enclosure s'ands the triumphal arch 
of Septimus Severus, the old fellow that 
thought he ought to get twenty -five hours' 
work out of each twenty -four, and had him- 
self kept awake by a gong. This arch is 
very handsome and is richly carved, but is 
not nearly as well preserved as that of Con- 
stantine, which shows scarcely any signs of 
decay. At the base of the Septimus Sev- 
erus Arch are some fine carvings in relief. 
This arch is seventy-five feet high and will 
last for several generations more. The pave- 
ment of the old Forum is almost entire. 
Charles got up on the stump of one column 



EUKOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 191 

and I on another and we spouted Julius 
Caesar at each other, and felt that we were 
old Roman orators. Nothing remains of the 
former greatness of the old Forum except a 
pile of ruins covered by earth and beautiful 
poppies, and of the splendid Temple of Saturn 
there remain but a few columns. 

There was a regular line of forums laid 
out — first coming the Forum of Vespasian, 
next the Forum of Minerva, with a temple 
to Minerva at the end, the Forum of Augus- 
tus, then the Forum of Ctesar, opposite this, 
and having the Temple of Venus set in the 
centre, then came the Forum of Trajan. The 
Forum Romanum was built in a sort of cor- 
nering way from the others, nearly at the 
foot of the hill where is the Basilica Julia. 
On one side are the remains of a rostrum, 
and near that the Arch of Augustus, and a 
temple to Vesta. There are other ruins of 
massive buildings, most of them of gi-eat 



192 EUKOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 

beauty. There is a large square building, 
or rather its remains, called the Atrium 
Vestce, just beyond the round temple. The 
Forum Romanum is on ground a little below 
the roadway that is built all around it, and 
one gets a very good view of it by driving 
around the whole. I do not know what it 
is that makes ruins so interesting, but I think 
that I could stay forever wandering around 
among the old moss-grown and rain-beaten 
stones without wanting or caring to know 
anything about their history. 

The Forum of Trajan is a bit of the old 
world surrounded by the new. It is on 
sunken ground, several feet below the side- 
walk, and there is an iron fence with stone 
posts all around it. Inside the enclosure 
are many broken columns, not one entire. 
These temples and forums have been covered 
with earth and are now excavated. It is 
thought that only a small portion of this 



EUKOPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 193 

Foruiu has been brought to light. Trajan's 
cohimn stands in the centre of the farthest 
end from the entrance. This column is a 
wonder, and has carvings in a spiral pattern 
three feet wide, winding from the bottom to 
the top. It is said to represent pictures of 
the war with the Dacians, and it has one 
continuous procession of men and animals. 
The column is hollow and has steps inside. 
It once had Trajan's statue on top, now it 
has some saint. This column is 147 feet 
high, and it is said that the old emperor is 
buried beneath the base of the column. I 
wonder some one does not try to dig him 
out, to put in a museum. There are two 
churches behind the plaza or open space 
back of this Forum. 

After we had wandered over all these 
places we went to the Basilica Julia, which is 
almost all crumbled away, having very little 
to show except ruined arches overgrown with 



194 EUEOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY'S EYES. 

sliriibs and poppies. Under the eastern end 
of this immense building can be seen the 
remains of the main conduit of the Cloaca 
Maxima, which was built to drain the water 
off the marshes. 

Modern streets, some of them very busy 
ones, have been cut right through these ruins, 
and that way it has been hard to preserve 
things that ought to be the nation's pride. 
Just to the east stand the ruins of the Tem- 
ple of Castor and Pollux. Across the Via 
Sacra is a temple to Romulus, and near the 
Via Miranda is the rest of one to Antonine 
and Fans tine. In fact there are more temples 
and arches and forums than 1 could describe 
separately. There is a large tract of ground 
thickly covered with the remains of what 
was the centre of Rome in those days. 

The Basilica Constantini stands on another 
side from that of the Basilica Julia. Seen 
from the side of the Via Sacra ( or Holy Way) 



EUROPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 195 

m 

it shows an imposing front of three great 
arches flanlvecl by small ones, at the side, 
and with others as a sort of foundation. The 
inner parts of these great arches form im- 
mense rooms, richly decorated on the sides 
and overhead. These are covered Avith 
what was evidently the roof. There was 
a large platform in front, and evidences 
that it extended much farther than it does 
now. Charles and I climbed up on two 
great stone abutments still better to admire 
this stupendous building. Near the Basilica 
de Constantine are the ruins of the palace of 
Caesar, rising in tiers and losing themselves 
under the trees that have grown in the earth 
that has covered this palace completely. 
The whole place looks from a distance much 
like the ruins of the house of blocks a child 
builds, but it is immense. There are arches 
everywhere and in some places the outlines 
of rooms show that the floors have been in- 



196 EUROPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY'S EYES. 

laid with various marbles in mosaic work. 
On one of the lower terraces there are many 
statues standing against a wall, which have 
probably fallen from different portions of the 
palace, and all been brought here. In all 
I counted six terraces or stories, and this, I 
think, must have been a fine palace in its day. 
We had started up the steps that led to 
the Capitoline Hill, and from there we had 
a fine view of all the parts of the city that 
most interested us, and made a long turn and 
went up a road that we supposed would take 
us to the palace of the Caesars, but we took 
a wrong road and went half a mile only to 
return again and climb up to the entrance, 
where we saw a notice that it was all free, 
but the guides that sprung up from behind 
every stone, it seemed, were willing to ac- 
cept what we were willing to give. And it 
was worth all we paid and more to see those 
odd old household utensils and curious crock- 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 197 

ery and many other relics found in the work 
of excavation. There were remains of fine 
balconies and mosaic work, and mural paint- 
ings. In one place the guides pointed out a 
portion of a wall said to have been built by 
Eomulus and Remus. It was made of kuge 
blocks of stone without cement. I often 
think of the way they boomed that town up 
and got other people to come in with them 
and take corner lots without advertising, 
and I think they were smarter than men are 
nowadays. 

The Capitoline Hill as it is no\^ does not 
show so very many signs of what it once 
was, still the Museum that holds all the rich 
bronzes that have been dug out of the ruins, 
the statuary and carvings of different kinds 
and other relics is a place one could spend 
years in. The ancient buildings have been 
altered by different persons so that though it 
is beautiful now on the Capitoline Hill it is 



198 EUKOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

not SO interesting as it might have been had 
they left the old edifices alone. Steps now 
lead np to the buildings flanked by large 
statues of Castor and Pollux with horses, and 
directly at the top of the steps is a statue of 
Marcus Aurelius on horseback. The house 
of the Senators has been rebuilt. 

On this hill there are many curious relics, 
among them being some of the milestones of 
the Appian Way. It would be simply im- 
possible to describe them all, but they are 
wonderful. There are busts or bas-reliefs 
of all the rulers of ancient Eome and num- 
bers of other people, besides gods and god- 
esses. It was here that the original statue 
of the Dying Gladiator was found. A wom- 
an guide shows you the Tarpian Rock, where 
people were hurled down to death. From 
the Capitoline Hill one gets a fine view of 
all the ruins, particularly the Forum Rom- 
anum, and there is a flight of steps which 



EUKOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 199 

leads up from there by way of the Temple 
of Vespasian. 

The Palatme Hill is on the south side of 
the Forum, and it had a number of temples 
to Jove, Apollo and other gods, and several 
royal residences. This hill was joined to 
another smaller one by great buildings on 
deep foundations. The ruins are scattered 
over a large space and have among them the 
ancient palaces of Caligula, Augustus, Sep- 
timus Severus and others. There were 
temples everywhere, baths and one dwelling 
supposed to have been that of Flavia. There 
was also what remains of the palace of 
Tiberius, and the guide said that it was on 
this hill that Komulus and Remus had lived 
and they show a cave for the wolf. The 
£uide who did not show that cave would 
not be doing his duty. 

We w^ent out the Appian Way, and here 
were much struck by the magnitude of the 



200 EUKOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOy's EYES. 

ancient works. The Appian Way starts 
from the Arch of Constantme, and one 
passes many interestmg places. The road 
outside the city starts from the Capnan gate. 
About three-quarters of a mile from the 
Areh of Constantino are the baths of Cara- 
calla. These would have accommodated 
1600 bathers at once and the ruins are most 
interesting, consisting mostly of immense 
arches, broken columns, mural paintings, 
mosaic floors and sculptured stones like 
tables, besides deep basins in the floor which 
is perfect in some places. There were many 
famous statues taken from this place. There 
are many places along the Appian Way 
where the old pavement still lies, and on each 
side are ruins of tombs, temples, baths, and 
fountains, all overgrown with weeds and 
vines and sometimes trees. There is a great 
aqueduct, that of Claudius I believe, which 
is massive and still a marvel of the skill of 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 201 

the old Romans. Part of the Appian Way 
is called the old road and part is called the 
new road ; this last is macadamized. Some 
of the ruins were very interesting, but we 
could not stop to examine them all as we 
would have liked to do. 

One of the gates, that of St. Sebastian, 
which is one of the outlets to the Appian 
Way, shows the ruined Arch of Drusus. 
There were tombs of various kinds to be seen 
near by, but we had so little time that we 
could not stop for more than a general view. 

We went to the wonderful Pantheon, 
which was originally built for the burial- 
place of Agrippa, now it is used to bury 
many prominent persons. I think Michael 
Angelo is buried there. The dome, and in- 
deed the whole place, is grand and beauti- 
ful, but sombre somehow. Just behind the 
Pantheon is another circular building which 
is called the baths of Agrippa. When we 



202 EUKOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

went to the Pantheon we had to wait until 
about 200 Italian soldiers had gone around. 
They did not seem to take up hardly any 
space in that great room. . 

We went to St. Peter's, which joins the 
Yatican. No words of mine or anybody 
else can worthily describe this great church. 
Charles was overcome by the grandeur 
and sat lost in admiration while I went up 
to the dome and from there I mounted to 
the gilt ball on top. This looks about as 
big as an apple from the ground, but it will 
hold about sixteen people. I don't think 
any person living could tell all the beauties 
of Rome's great buildings. It takes one's 
breath away. It is almost as grand as 
mountains and the ocean. 

While in Rome we visited all the great 
churches, and found them all interesting from 
various causes, though of course none could 
compare with St. Peter's. We saw the 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 203 

" Sea la Santa " where worshippers go up 
the long flight of steps on their knees. We 
saw all those wonderful statues and paint- 
ings that make of Rome one vast museum. In 
fact, I think we saw all the sights travelers 
are bound and obliged to take in. Some 
day I hope to go back to Rome and study 
each of the wonders in detail, though what 
I have seen will live in my mind forever. 

I foro'ot to mention that some of the 
most beautiful views of the great city are 
those which take in glimpses of the Tiber. 
One in particular shows the tower of St. 
Angelo across the river, and on the bridge 
are ten or twelve statues of heroic size. 
This tower is of great historic interest, and 
was the key to the city. The bridge was 
closed for some reason and we could not go 
to the tower. There are so many public 
and private works of art both ancient and 
modern in Rome that anyone would be con- 



204 EUKOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

fused trying to remember them. The phizas 
are like museums with their magnificent 
statues and fountains. There stands before 
the Pantheon an obelisk on a beautiful ped- 
estal, and there is another great triumphal 
column with thousands of carved figures 
upon it on the Piazza Colonna, called Col- 
onna Antonina. There is another larger 
obelisk on the Piazza del Popolo. On the 
Palatine Hill, the ruins of the Palace of 
Caligula are massive and grand, and every- 
where is seen the great arch which is the 
fundament of nearly all the ruined architec- 
ture of Rome. 

Our visit to the catacombs of St. Calisto 
was one that I shall never forget. The en- 
trance is through a small building on the 
Appian Way, about three-quarters of a mile 
from the city. We were conducted by three 
Trappist monks who act as guides. They 
are allowed to talk. The rest of the brother- 




w 



EUKOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 205 

hood are vowed to silence. There are other 
catacombs, but these are the largest and in 
the best condition. There were about twenty 
persons, among them some steamer friends, 
waiting to go dowai and Charles and I joined 
the party. We went down two flights of 
stairs and through long, winding passages 
that seem endless, and indeed it is said that 
the catacombs of Rome if placed in a line 
would measure about 545 miles, but they 
wind in and out and sometimes there are 
four or five tiers or stories and one might 
wander, if lost, for days before finding an 
outlet. The passageways are about four 
feet wide, sometimes less, and on each side 
in crevices and niches are bodies and bones, 
and occasionally a lamp. Generally there 
is a slab or piece of stone with a name on 
it, and in some places it is hollowed out in 
large vaults, for families apparently. On 
s^eral of the walls of these larger places 



206 EUEOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY S EYES. 

are mural paintings of saints, and in these 
places are shelves where coffins could be 
deposited, and other places are arched for 
the reception of statues and sarcophagi. 
There is a chapel where on St. Cecelia's 
day mass is celebrated. Among the notables 
buried in this place were several popes, two 
of them still there but the others have been 
taken away. The dead bones here are not 
ranged into such fanciful shapes as in the 
Capuchins but the sight of so many miles of 
passages lined on all sides by the forgotten 
dead, and the knowledge that in tier on tier 
above were the same depressing sights, it is 
no wonder that I felt very small and little 
and was very glad to get out into the sun- 
light again, even if the way was lined with 
tombs. One was a great tower-like struc- 
ture, and was the tomb of Cecelia Matella 
whoever she was. It has withstood the rav- 
ages of time better than the rest of them. 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 207 

We went to the catacombs of the Capiichm 
monks where the skulls and bones of the 
dead are arranoed in a manner that would 
seem ingenious and pretty, if it were not 
that all the fanciful arrangements of arches, 
flowers, vases, etc., were made of different 
bones of the bodies gathered there. Tliere 
is one place where there is holy soil from 
Calvary, and the bodies are buried in this 
for fifty years, and are then taken out and 
used to decorate some other niche. These 
poor bones and skulls are polished up nicely 
before they are put in. It is horrible and 
seems as if it is not right to mix the bones 
up so that nobody could ever find his own. 

Seeing so much of the past almost made 
me believe that all Rome was dead, but it is 
not ; it is very much alive, and there are so 
many foreigners there that it has a special 
interest. But, we concerned ourselves more 
with old Rome than with the new, though 



208 EUKOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

of course, we made the most of om^ time 
seeing all we could of all parts of the city. 

Before I left home I had had a little cor- 
respondence with His Eminence, the Cardinal 
Ledochowski, the Chief of the Propaganda, 
and I wa« anxious to see him, as he had 
written to me inviting me to call on him if 
ever I went to Rome. I sent in my card,' 
and he remembered instantly all about it, 
and sent his secretary to ask me to wait a 
few moments. Then the secretary conduc- 
ted me to the Cardinal's private room, out- 
side of which were already some twenty 
persons waiting for a conference, but His 
Eminence came forward with outstretched 
hands and said: "And how are you, my 
dear Tello." This took away my fear of 
intruding, and I felt more at ease, and we 
chatted about half an hour, as though we 
were old friends. Then wishing me the best 
of luck, he gave me his autograph photo- 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 209 

graph. I could not see the Pope, as he was 
too fatigued, having received so many pil- 
grims the week before. If I could have 
stayed a few days longer I might have had 
an interview with him, but unfortunately 
our time was up. 

Cardinal Ledochowski is a stately and 
noble looking man, with great dignity and 
power of carriage, but with that he is as gen- 
tle as a women. His manner is perfection, 
and it is an example for all great men. I 
shall alwavs be erlad I met him. 

Everyone has read of the wonders of the 
Vatican. It is like Aladdin's palace. There 
are galleries on galleries, chapels, museums, 
libraries, halls and other rooms until the 
mind is lost in surprise. The royal stair- 
way is most beautiful, with its double line 
of columns, each higher than the other, and 
its sculptured archway. There is a long 
corridor filled with sculpture of every kind 



210 EUKOPE SEEN THEOUGH A BOY's EYES. 

and with pictures in the arches opposite the 
windows. The library is most wonderful. 
It is paved with marble, and everywhere 
stand priceless vases and other works of art. 
There are desks and on every side are paint- 
ings, each one a gem. The ceiling is like 
nothing else. It is covered with paintings 
and they are done so as to leave a dazzled 
effect on the mind. Another long gallery 
in the museum of the Vatican has a line of 
busts of famous men the whole length, be- 
tween the windows. The ceiling to this 
gallery is wonderful with its carvings and 
pictures. It is the geographical gallery. 
The Sistine chapel with its lovely statues is 
also here. The whole of the upper part of 
the walls, and one end and the ceiling are 
covered with religious paintings by old mas- 
ters. The whole place is to my mind the 
most wonderful building in the world if I 
can judge by the little I have seen and what 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 211 

I have read. The gardens around it are 
worthy of the Vatican, which is large 
enough to quarter a big army. 

One day while 1 was walking along I 
saw the King of Italy. Two little boys 
bowed to him, and he returned their salute. 
I took courage and raised my hat and bowed, 
whereupon he did the same. I thought him 
a fine looking man, but showing the cares 
and worries of State. I had had an open 
letter to all American ministers sent me 
from Mr. Gresham, our Secretary of State, 
through the kind ofhces of a good friend, 
which would probably have gained me an 
interview with all the Royalty wherever I 
passed, but by changing our itinerary the 
letter missed me and wandered all through 
Spain and Italy and finally reached me a 
few days before we started for home, too 
late for its purpose, but not too late for me 
to thank all those who took so much trouble, 



212 EUKOPE SEEN THKOUGH A BOY'S EYES. 

particularly during the two or three days 
after President Cleveland's inauguration. 

Charles and I made several other trips 
about Rome, visiting the Quirinal and all 
other places of interest mentioned by the 
guides, but no ten books could tell all we 
saw. We went to the Trevi fountain where 
the people say the water is enchanted so 
that whoever drinks it is obliged to revisit 
Rome. We drank and threw in a handful 
of copper money. Selim thought water was 
good, and started after a drink or to recover 
our soldi, and he nearly fell in the fountain, 
which is large and deep, and he looked per- 
fectly discouraged when I scolded him, as 
much as to say, " what's the use of a fellow 
trying to make himself useful, and be abused 
for it?" 

We were not traveling for social pleas- 
ures, nor any kind of gayety,and so confined 
ourselves strictly to the business of seeing 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY's EYES. 213 

all we could of every place we visited and 
as we had done all that could be compassed 
into those few days, we started back to 
Florence, where we arrived and were re- 
joiced to find Aunt Mary quite recovered. 

A few days later we started back to 
Genoa, and remained waiting several days 
for the Fulda to sail. What we saw in 
Genoa I told in another chapter. At last 
the Fulda was ready to start and so were 
we. 1 admit I was homesick, besides I 
wanted to show my dog to my friends in 
New York, and I wanted many things, chief 
of which was to see my parents, and it 
seemed that the steamer was awfully slow. 
I was not seasick on this trip. The Fulda 
is an easy steamer anyhow, but I wanted to 
see New York. 

There was a rather more sociable lot of 
passengers on this steamer than there had 
been on the Kaiser Wilhelm. Among them 



214 EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOY'S EYES. 

were Lord and Lady McPherson, who were 
very friendly to me, and an Italian member 
of Parliament, and we also grew to be good 
friends; but Selim furnished about all the 
diversion there was. 

The Fulda reached her dock at last, on 
time, and even sooner than she had been 
expected, and I said good-bye to Charles 
who started westward to his home, and 
to the dear lady who had taken me under 
her gentle wing, and allowed a lonely boy 
to call her Aunt Mary during the voyage. 

Then I came safely through the Custom 
House, took a cab and hurried home to find 
my blessed father and mother busily plan- 
ning about going to meet me the next morn- 
ing; were we glad to see each other ? I think 
so. And Selim, he adopted mamma at once 
and pre-empted her lap as his bed, and 
promptly went to sleep with a sigh of su- 
preme content, and papa and mamma and I 



EUROPE SEEN THROUGH A BOy's EYES. 215 

hugged and kissed each other a hundred 
times. I was glad to get home though I 
had enjoyed my trip with keen relish. I 
wish I could feel sure that those who read 
this little book will enjoy as well as I did 
my trip to Europe and back. 




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